Photo by Ben Kaye
In today’s episode of America: Divided, we turn to E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who has called on the cast of Hamilton to apologize for its “bullying” of Vice President-elect Mike Pence during last night’s performance.
During the curtain call, the cast returned to the stage and delivered a stern but reasonable message to Pence, who was in attendance. Speaking on behalf of the group, actor Brandon Dixon said, “We are the diverse America, who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights. But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values, and work on behalf of all of us.”
As Rolling Stone points out, Van Zandt took to Twitter to express his view that the Hamilton cast made a mistake and set a “terrible precedent” by addressing Pence directly. “We are the diverse America, who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights. But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values, and work on behalf of all of us.”
“Audiences shouldn’t have to worry about being blindsided like that,” he wrote. In a later tweet, he added: “He was their guest. You protect your guest. Don’t embarrass them.” Van Zandt also pointed out that he personally finds Pence’s political views to be abhorrent, but that he doesn’t “tolerate bullying in any form.”
The guitarist may have been trying to make a simple point about the role of theater and art, but he quickly became embroiled in a series of arguments with fans on Twitter. While we wait for an apology from Miranda that will probably never come, check out Van Zandt’s initial series of tweets below.