Delta Air Lines and Bank of America yanked their sponsorships of New York’s Public Theater on Sunday over its controversial staging of “Julius Caesar” — which features a Donald Trump look-alike playing the role of the assassinated title character.
The free Shakespeare in the Park play has sparked outrage with it’s grisly portrayal of the president and bloody climax.
The characters onstage wear regular clothes throughout the outdoor production and stab a blond, suit and tie-clad Caesar to death to close out the show.
“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 said in a statement, ending it’s four-year run as the official airline of the Public Theater
“Their artistic and creative direction crossed the line on the standards of good taste,” they added. “We have notified them of our decision to end our sponsorship as the official airline of The Public Theater effective immediately.”
Bank of America, which has sponsored the outdoor venue for the past 11 years, also blasted the nonprofit in a statement Sunday.
“The Public Theater chose to present ‘Julius Caesar’ in a way that was intended to provoke and offend,” a spokesperson said. “Had this intention been made known to us, we would have decided not to sponsor it. We are withdrawing our funding for this production.”
The Public Theater’s rendition of Julius Caser, which runs until June 18, also reimagines the Roman leader’s wife as Melania Trump.
“I wonder how much of this ‘art’ is funded by taxpayers?” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted Sunday morning, in response to the depictions of the first lady and his dad.
“Serious question, when does ‘art’ become political speech & does that change things?” he said.
Delta’s announcement came just hours before members of the Public Theater gathered for the Tony Awards — and roughly two weeks after Kathy Griffin’s severed head stunt.
Social media users had been urging the airline to pull out for days.
“Cancelled [flight] reservations,” wrote one Twitter user, who was outraged by Delta’s sponsorship. “Julius Caesar is shameful. Have integrity support @realDonaldTrump.”
With Post wires