The Public Theater refused to back down and went ahead with its controversial Shakespeare in the Park production of "Julius Caesar" inspired by President Donald Trump. NY1's Michael Scotto filed the following report.
Fans lined up Monday in Central Park, eager to catch opening night of Julius Caesar despite a raging national controversy over the Public Theater's production.
Bank of America and Delta pulled funding from the Shakespeare classic, which depicts the assassination of a Caesar modeled on President Trump.
"I see that free speech is very important, and everyone should be free to exercise it, including Bank of America," said one New Yorker.
"The decision to pull out, while understandable, also shows that I think these industries are kind of unwilling to take a stand behind art making a statement about what's happening in the world," said another.
The play had been in previews for weeks, but the backlash mushroomed over the weekend after conservative news outlets like Breitbart called it an incitement to violence.
The Public Theater pushed back, saying its staging of Julius Caesar "in no way advocates violence towards anyone. Shakespeare's play, and our production, make the opposite point: those who attempt to defend democracy by undemocratic means pay a terrible price and destroy the very thing they are fighting to save."
Civil libertarians said they feared the uproar would cause corporations to close their wallets to provocative art and fuel efforts by the Trump administration to end funding to the National Endowment for the Arts, as Donald Trump Jr. advocated on Twitter.
"I'm very concerned because the end result will be that artists will be chilled, funding won't be there for the arts and this will be an anathema," said Norman Siegel, a civil rights and civil liberties lawyer.
The NEA's website made clear it is not financing this production, though it has funded Shakespeare performances here in the past.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he can understand personal sensitivites to the production, but that the city will continue to support the Public Theater.
"I think it's a very slippery slope and a very dangerous situation in democracy to interfere in the cultural process, if you will," the mayor said.
Many fans of Shakespeare insist this is much ado about nothing. New Yorkers can judge for themselves. The production runs through Sunday.