Ric Grenell, the Interim Executive Director of the Kennedy Center, said an internal investigation reportedly found $26 million in fake revenue, adding that "people need to be prosecuted."

"Our great new CFO [Donna Arduin] went through the 2024 and 2025 budgets of the Kennedy Center and found $26 million in phantom revenue," Grenell said in a clip shared on X on Wednesday from a recent event at the White House for the famed venue.

SHOCKING! Ric Grenell just revealed the new CFO of The Kennedy Center went through the 2024 & 2025 budgets and found $26 MILLION in PHANTOM REVENUE. FAKE REVENUE! This is now being referred to the U.S. Attorneys Office. @RichardGrenell pic.twitter.com/fW4wjJnPwE

— George Balfour-Kinnear (@balfourUK) May 20, 2025

RELATED: Trump Axes Kennedy Center Board Members, Names World Leader As New Chairman

"Fake revenue," he added. "It's criminal. We are going to refer this to the U.S. Attorney's office here [Washington, D.C.]. We are lucky enough to have the Attorney General on the board of the Kennedy Center, who heard all the details today. She [Judge Jeanine Pirro] heard the details, and this is unacceptable in America to have … fraud on previous donors."

Ric Grenell says the previous Kennedy Center leadership was committing financial fraud and that he will have the DOJ and FBI investigate. pic.twitter.com/c22Y7B4WTr

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 23, 2025

Grenell recently spoke to Mark Halperin on his "2 Way" podcast, and the former U.S. ambassador to Germany and U.S. Envoy for Special Missions did not hold back about the alleged fraud they had discovered, promising that there would be an investigation by the Department of Justice and the FBI into the matter.

"What we just found, and we're going to turn over to DOJ and the FBI for an investigation … our forensic new CFO went through the books for '24 and '25, found $26 million in phantom revenue," Grenell said. "And so the problem that we have with $26 million in phantom revenue is they were telling the board that we had this revenue–We're going to release all of the details to the FBI and to DOJ to look at this because it's fraud."

"They were literally lying about how the finances were," he added. "And let me just finish with this, for the last nine months, well before we got there, we have been paying the staff at the Kennedy Center through debt reserves.

"Now, what that means is that in 2030, we have a huge balloon payment, and we have been saving money every year and paying it down a little bit to make this big balloon payment in 2030," Grenell continued. "They started digging into that in order to pay salaries … It's a total fraud, and people need to be prosecuted for it."

Grenell has proven to be fearless as the interim leader of the famed center and recently dropped some harsh reality on Kennedy Center performers who allegedly threatened to boycott over President Donald Trump's possible appearance at a "Les Misérables" performance, RedState reported.

On Wednesday, while speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Ric Grenell just laid out the "Les Miz" performers, according to industry publication Variety. First, it seemed this was the first time he had heard the "rumor" about the controversy, then he added, "But the Kennedy Center will no longer fund intolerance."

He stated that it shows who isn't "professional" in the performance company and that any producer thinking of hiring any of these performers might be inspired to think again. 

"Any performer who isn't professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won't be welcomed," Grenell said in the full quote. "In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn't hire — and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience."

"The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoy a performance together," he added.

Elon Musk and DOGE are bringing much-needed accountability to our out-of-control bureaucracy as they take a chainsaw to rampant waste, fraud, and abuse.

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