Larry Kramer Takes on Trump Jordan Roth & More

[macbeth]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 2:21pm

https://www.facebook.com/larry.kramer.169/posts/2970927606291285

A LETTER FROM LARRY KRAMER

WE MUST GET RID OF TRUMP IMMEDIATELY. Not tomorrow, not next week, but immediately.

He is destroying our country. 

Each day he delivers yet another nail in the coffin that is his responsibility to guard and protect.

I realize that being an activist via facebook is not easy and probably not very effective and what we accomplished in the days of ACT UP is out of range now. Reading all the posts of what people are going through is heartbreaking and not very effective as an activist tool.

I’ve been trying to come up with some ways we can fight for ways to get rid of this murderer. Emailing every elected official is not going to do it. Whatever happened to Nancy Pelosi’s promise to put impeachment orders on the agenda appears to have disappeared just at a time when there must be enough congressional votes to support her. What’s happened to her? She seems to have turned into a weenie. All of Congress have turned into cowards. It’s just amazing to watch how much Trump can get away with it.

One idea I’ve had as this. 
Many of us know some one person who is important (and probably a Republican). How can you shame him into action? I’ll give you an example. Jordan Roth, who owns Jujamcyn Theaters, is a friend of mine. Every actor in New York is beholden to him. His father Steven Roth is one of the richest men in the world. He is in business with Donald Trump. They own buildings together. I have tried to shame Jordan into action. “Take off all those dresses you seem to wear, get a haircut, and be a man and beg your father to help us,” I wrote to him.
That’s the kind of tactic I’m thinking about. We did stuff like this all the time in ACT UP and it worked. We got the drugs. Go after the important person you name and shame him. Don’t be nice about it. Shame is a powerful tool to use.

I’d like to remind everyone that AIDS is still a virulent plague that’s infecting millions of people. Trump promised to get rid of it. Yeah. And put Pence in charge of that.

Too many of us are now living two plagues. What kind of monster allows such as this?

We have to get rid of this murderer. We have to find a way to do it fast.

 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 2:32pm

I don’t know if it was necessary to drag Jordan into this and I’m not sure if it was right for him to tell him to get a haircut too in a pretty condescending fashion. I understand what he’s arguing, though and I feel bad for him. I hope he finds peace.

[OKBroadwayFan]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 2:48pm

Harvey Fierstein reponse to his Facebook post:

Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein My darling Larry - Let us, please, not start attacking one another. Jordan knows, Richie knows. I dare say that Steve Roth knows. Trump couldn't care less if Steve attacked him. At this point he doesn't need a real estatemdeveloper like Steve Roth. He has plenty of money for his reelection. That's not where his power and security comes from. Trump is a puppet of the corporations who are making a fortune off this disease. They are cashing in America's pain for America's wealth. Prices for equipment are skyrocketing. Trump has the power to stem the racketeering but he wouldn't dare. Corporate America would destroy him. He knows that the marketplace is what owns him. And as long as he puts anti-choice and anti-gay and anti-women's rights judges on the bench no right winger will care what else he does. Trump was right. He is now standing in the middle of an empty 5th Avenue having killed everyone who lived there and NO ONE IS CALLING HIM OUT ON IT! Trump is Nero fiddling while the country burns. But as long as it's burning up citizens and not companies he will remain safely in power. My dearest, wisest, bravest friend... We survived an epidemic because we recognized the real enemy. Ronald Reagan was an asshole who finally heard our pleas when his own friends were dying but he did not save us. Citizens and protest and outrage and knowledge and community and SCIENCE saved us. TRUMP's stupidity and fecklessness is in the way of a cure. But Trump in no way is the cure. Let's stay focused. I know that I don't have to remind you of all people, no human being is the enemy. The enemy is a virus. Let's destroy the enemy.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 2:50pm

The comment about the dresses and acting like a man was...excessive, but that’s Larry.

...He ain’t wrong about the Roths, though.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 3:08pm

Spot on about the Roth's, but the hair and dress comment was unnecessary. I love Harvey's response and I will respect Larry Kramer forever, he got sh*t done. 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 4:37pm

I think Kramer's weirdly gendered comments are uncalled for, but I do think that it is disappointing that Jordan Roth seemed more dedicated to flaunting his extravagant wealth in the form of couture clothing at any high society events he could get into than he has been in using his wealth or position to help... literally anybody right now. Particularly when so many in the theatre community face extremely uncertain futures. 

[lemiz3001]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 5:21pm

Agree with you Kad. 

I am neither here nor there about Jordan's instagram presence, but I feel like his recent fashion posts all tagged in East Hampton are really tone deaf. As many in the theatre community get fired or placed on furlough, it seems really off. His social media management really needs to recalibrate, as I know many in the community are chatting about it. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 5:50pm

It's always rubbed me the wrong way no matter how many genuinely wonderful things he does in the name of charity.

[DAME]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 7:54pm

Kad said: "I think Kramer's weirdly gendered comments are uncalled for, but I do think that it is disappointing that Jordan Roth seemed more dedicated to flaunting his extravagant wealth in the form of couture clothing at any high society events he could get into than he has been in using his wealth or position to help... literally anybody right now. Particularly when so many in the theatre community face extremely uncertain futures."

How do we know he is not helping? .  And his dressup and pictures rub me the wrong way as well.  But we don't know that he is not helping in other ways.  We don't know he is not writing checks. I kind of get Kramers bitterness... Jordan Roth usually makes me feel embarrassed for him.  And I don't know why..  I usually cringe when I see his pics...  

Updated On: 4/3/20 at 07:54 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 11:00pm

It would certainly be worth knowing and a strong signal to the community and good publicity if he were making sure his employees at Jujamcyn or those involved in his shows or renting his theatres would be taken care of. Maybe he is! But he hardly seems like someone to shy away from good press.

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 12:36am

I'm fine with all of this.  It's about time we stop tripping over ourselves in being overly-sensitive and 'woke' and we start fighting fire with fire.

Kramer was in the trenches, unlike most people today who just hide behind a keyboard and 'stan' their way through life.  I respect the living hell out of him for his honesty.

Jordan lives a gilded life.  The time for dress up is over.  This ain't no party.
 

Updated On: 4/4/20 at 12:36 AM

[devonian.t]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 3:02am

In a positive way, Mr Kramer has always had the knack of grabbing the headlines with outrageous statements which are intended to electro-shock people into waking up and getting things done.  His message isn't gentle, but it's vital.

Mr Fierstein has great wisdom, compassion and tenderness and hits you hard, but with a velvet glove.

Trump's tool is division- break people apart and isolate dissenters.  He is more dangerous than Reagan because he believes in nothing but self-aggrandizement.  Just as the Democrats need to unite to defeat a great evil, Mr Fierstein is quite right: let's not feed Trump more ammunition at a time when greed and hatred are as virulent as Covid.

[AlanB3]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 7:50am

Issues can be raised as aggressively as one desires without including irrelevant attacks or commentary about how an individual dresses. People's policies or actions are what matters, not what they wear.

Updated On: 4/4/20 at 07:50 AM

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 9:15am

lemiz3001 said: "Agree with you Kad.

I am neither here nor there about Jordan's instagram presence, but I feel like his recent fashion posts all tagged in East Hampton are really tone deaf. As many in the theatre community get fired or placed on furlough, it seems really off. His social media management really needs to recalibrate, as I know many in the community are chatting about it."

Jordan has lived in a bubble of wealth and privilege his entire life. The only working class people he knows are probably people he employs. I am not surprised at his tone-deafness. Kramer’s fixation on his appearance is a little weird, but his message is coming from the right place. Unfortunately, as we learn time and again, class solidarity tends to supersede all else. 

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 9:36am

I don’t agree with Kramer commenting on his appearance, but Roth is out of touch with the average person. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy, and his intent seems to be “aspirational,” but sometimes being real goes a long way. I don’t follow him on social media because it’s too many posts about Paris Fashion Week, the fabulous friends he has, and the massive garden in his Hamptons (I’m assuming) home. A lot of people adore him because of those things, so I get why he does it, but maybe someone with that platform can balance it out with realness about his struggles (like being a gay man who has a Trump supporter father) or volunteerism (not just monetary donations).

[kdogg36]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 10:53pm

Updated On: 4/5/20 at 10:53 PM

[LarryD2]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 1:32pm

I'm guessing Jordan doesn't care much about politics these days, now that Pete Buttigieg has dropped out of the presidential race and he can't buy his way into the NEA chairmanship.

[theatrepersonNYC]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 2:16pm

Dear Harvey,

I adore you, but boy, you are way off-base.

You see, Steve and Jordan Roth ARE corporate America.  Vornado is a publicly traded company on the NYSE.  Steve backed Trump because he could profit from him and his tax cuts and his corporatized Supreme Court.  Damn Trump's incompetence, has racism, his homophobia - profit is what Steve does, and he sure has profited!  And those profits are what allows Jordan to do what he does: be born into a wealthy family and use that wealth to buy theatres - and to show off his insanely privileged lifestyle on Instagram day in, day out.

So, sure, there are lots of accomplices in Trump's reign - but the Roth's are fair targets as long as they profit while, as you point out, their Orange Nero lets the country go to sh%#.

How about an apology from them, those who aided and abetted this monstrosity into office?  While those of us without jobs, without security, without second or third or fourth homes wait to hear if we'll still be able to make rent next week?  

Sorry, Harvey, but I don't hear one coming.  So don't defend them. Larry's right.

With much love,

Joe

 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 2:20pm

I've said it before and I'll say it again on this site: EFF LARRY KRAMER. Ned in "The Normal Heart" was a fiction, as if somebody choregoraphed Larry's life as a dream ballet. The real life Larry has long, lonnnnnng outlived his usefulness in every arena. And he has exactly none of Ned's lovable qualities.

Instead of wasting any more time on him, I strongly recommend ACT UP O.G. Gregg Gonsalves on Twitter. He was given a MacArthur Genius Award two short years ago for his dogged work on epidemiology, world health disparaties, and the need for street action in combination with legislative action and a strong backbone of science. 

Larry's old style, which he is attempting to revive with this latest missive, is nothing more than the other side of the Trump coin. He should leave Covid-19 alone.

Gregg Gonsalves on Twitter is actually helpful