WASHINGTON _ All 17 members of a White House advisory panel on the arts and humanities resigned en masse Friday in response to President Donald Trump's divisive comments on the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va.
The move follows the mass exodus of major business CEOs who quit two White House panels this week to protest the president's response to last weekend's clashes between far-right groups and counter-protesters.
"Reproach and censure in the strongest possible terms are necessary following your support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville," the 16 wrote in a letter to Trump. "The false equivalencies you push cannot stand."
"Supremacy, discrimination, and vitriol are not American values," the letter said. "Your values are not American values."
The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities was created in 1982 under President Ronald Reagan, and acts as an advisory committee to the White House on cultural issues.
It draws from Hollywood, Broadway and the broader arts and entertainment community. First lady Melania Trump is the panel's honorary chairwoman. The White House did not immediately comment.
The committee works with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, along with other federal partners and the private sector.
Among those who resigned were actor Kal Penn, painter and photographer Chuck Close; Jill Udall, the former head of cultural affairs for New Mexico; and entertainment executive Fred Goldring, who helped produce the "Yes We Can" video with musician Will.i.am in support of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
Penn posted the letter on Twitter.
The letter was initially released Friday morning with signatures from 16 of the 17 members. By afternoon, the 17th member, playwright George C. Wolfe, had also resigned.
Andrew J. Weinstein, a Democratic activist and donor, said he initially resigned before the inauguration but does not believe the Trump administration recorded that he had left the committee, so he signed the latest letter to send an additional message.
"Standing by while our president engages in the kind of hateful rhetoric and divisive language that he continues to unleash is unacceptable," he said.
Weinstein said he and other members of the committee were also furious that Trump sought to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and other cultural programs in his budget proposal.
