{"id":148748,"date":"2026-04-13T15:17:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/04\/13\/nothing-says-kennedy-center-class-like-the-general-counsels-cover-band\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T15:17:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:17:21","slug":"nothing-says-kennedy-center-class-like-the-general-counsels-cover-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/04\/13\/nothing-says-kennedy-center-class-like-the-general-counsels-cover-band\/","title":{"rendered":"Nothing Says Kennedy Center Class Like The General Counsel\u2019s Cover Band"},"content":{"rendered":"

A prominent MAGA-world figure attempting to leverage a public-facing role into something that looks suspiciously like a personal perk? Though it\u2019s an increasingly familiar tale in the Trump 2.0 admin, this time we\u2019re talking about attorney Elliot Berke<\/a>. <\/p>\n

According to reporting from POLITICO<\/a>, the general counsel for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ahem, tried <\/em>to book his own cover band, the DePlorables, to play at the Center\u2019s rooftop \u201cSpeakeasy,\u201d a venue described as an \u201cafterhours jazz club hidden in the sky.\u201d Because when you think refined late-night jazz vibes, you obviously think\u2026 an amateur rock cover band with a cringe-worthy (and dated) political name that happens to be the GC\u2019s side hustle.<\/p>\n

The Speakeasy is supposed to evoke exclusivity, ambiance, maybe a little velvet-rope mystique. Berke\u2019s pitch was essentially, \u201cWhat if instead we did \u2018Sweet Home Alabama\u2019 but make it ethically questionable<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, someone at the Kennedy Center rejected the request, and reportedly the concern that booking the general counsel\u2019s own band might be, you know, a conflict of interest played a role. A quaint notion, but nice to see it hasn\u2019t gone entirely extinct.<\/p>\n

Of course, the official spin is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. A Kennedy Center statement insists that \u201cprogrammers asked Berke about performing, but he did not think the band was the right genre and did not want the Speakeasy to be viewed as a vanity project for center employees.\u201d Which is a bold defense, but POLITICO reports they\u2019ve seen the receipts that Berke did, in fact, push to get the DePlorables on that stage.<\/p>\n

Berke also reportedly advocated for booking the British prog-rock band Yes, a group he reportedly represents. Now, to his credit, sources say he avoided directly engaging with the band during negotiations to sidestep the appearance of impropriety. In the end, Yes didn\u2019t take the gig anyway. A spokesperson for the band said they declined because they got a better offer elsewhere in D.C., which\u2026 even prog-rock legends know when a situation feels a little too messy.<\/p>\n

All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of the Kennedy Center\u2019s ongoing identity crisis. Once a broadly respected cultural institution, it became an oddly specific fixation for the second Donald Trump administration, as loyalists were installed on the board and they slapped Trump\u2019s name onto the building. Nothing says timeless artistic legacy like a rebrand no one asked for and Congress hasn\u2019t approved.<\/p>\n

So, yes, in that context, Berke trying to turn the Speakeasy into Battle of the Bands: In-House Counsel Edition almost feels inevitable. When leadership treats a national cultural institution like a personal branding exercise, why wouldn\u2019t<\/em> the general counsel assume the rooftop bar is his shot at a residency?<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Nothing Says Kennedy Center Class Like The General Counsel\u2019s Cover Band<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A prominent MAGA-world figure attempting to leverage a public-facing role into something that looks suspiciously like a personal perk? Though it\u2019s an increasingly familiar tale in the Trump 2.0 admin, this time we\u2019re talking about attorney Elliot Berke<\/a>. <\/p>\n

According to reporting from POLITICO<\/a>, the general counsel for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ahem, tried <\/em>to book his own cover band, the DePlorables, to play at the Center\u2019s rooftop \u201cSpeakeasy,\u201d a venue described as an \u201cafterhours jazz club hidden in the sky.\u201d Because when you think refined late-night jazz vibes, you obviously think\u2026 an amateur rock cover band with a cringe-worthy (and dated) political name that happens to be the GC\u2019s side hustle.<\/p>\n

The Speakeasy is supposed to evoke exclusivity, ambiance, maybe a little velvet-rope mystique. Berke\u2019s pitch was essentially, \u201cWhat if instead we did \u2018Sweet Home Alabama\u2019 but make it ethically questionable<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, someone at the Kennedy Center rejected the request, and reportedly the concern that booking the general counsel\u2019s own band might be, you know, a conflict of interest played a role. A quaint notion, but nice to see it hasn\u2019t gone entirely extinct.<\/p>\n

Of course, the official spin is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. A Kennedy Center statement insists that \u201cprogrammers asked Berke about performing, but he did not think the band was the right genre and did not want the Speakeasy to be viewed as a vanity project for center employees.\u201d Which is a bold defense, but POLITICO reports they\u2019ve seen the receipts that Berke did, in fact, push to get the DePlorables on that stage.<\/p>\n

Berke also reportedly advocated for booking the British prog-rock band Yes, a group he reportedly represents. Now, to his credit, sources say he avoided directly engaging with the band during negotiations to sidestep the appearance of impropriety. In the end, Yes didn\u2019t take the gig anyway. A spokesperson for the band said they declined because they got a better offer elsewhere in D.C., which\u2026 even prog-rock legends know when a situation feels a little too messy.<\/p>\n

All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of the Kennedy Center\u2019s ongoing identity crisis. Once a broadly respected cultural institution, it became an oddly specific fixation for the second Donald Trump administration, as loyalists were installed on the board and they slapped Trump\u2019s name onto the building. Nothing says timeless artistic legacy like a rebrand no one asked for and Congress hasn\u2019t approved.<\/p>\n

So, yes, in that context, Berke trying to turn the Speakeasy into Battle of the Bands: In-House Counsel Edition almost feels inevitable. When leadership treats a national cultural institution like a personal branding exercise, why wouldn\u2019t<\/em> the general counsel assume the rooftop bar is his shot at a residency?<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Nothing Says Kennedy Center Class Like The General Counsel\u2019s Cover Band<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A prominent MAGA-world figure attempting to leverage a public-facing role into something that looks suspiciously like a personal perk? Though it\u2019s an increasingly familiar tale in the Trump 2.0 admin, this time we\u2019re talking about attorney Elliot Berke. According to reporting from POLITICO, the general counsel for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":148749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-BMZoy1.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}