It was quite frustrating for New York’s Public Theater to lose two major corporate donors that had been earlier drumming up support for it. These were Bank of America Corp (BAC) and Delta Air Lines, Inc (DAL). There had been much criticism in line with the production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” which according to sources had been portraying the assassination of a Trump-like Roman ruler.
The criticism online has been raging for over some time now, and it is the reason the top provider chose to settle for its recent decision.
On Sunday, Donald Trump Jr, who happens to be the son of the president, was seemingly questioning funding sources of the theater through twitter. In making its report on Sunday night, the provider said, “No matter what your political stance may be, the graphic staging of ‘Julius Caesar’ at this summer’s Free Shakespeare in the Park does not reflect Delta Air Lines’ values.”
The company also added that both the artistic and creative direction had reached a point of crossing lines on the standards of good taste. It was in this regard that they made the step to actually give the notification in regards to the decision to end the sponsorship as the official airline of the Public Theater, with immediate effect.
A similar move by the Bank of America took place some hours later. The company cited that it was going to withdraw its financial support from the production of “Julius Caesar.” However, it made it clear that it would in no way end its financial relationship with the theater.
Susan Atran, who happens to be the provider’s spokeswoman, outlined that it had been ongoing for about 11 years.
From the outlook, the Public Theater seems to have been presented in a rather offensive and provocative manner. Ms. Atran insisted that things would have turned out differently if they had been made aware of this particular intention. The company would have made the appropriate move of declining to sponsor it. She added that indeed they were going to withdraw their sponsorship with immediate effect.
