“When Robert F. Smith, the billionaire philanthropist, became the new chairman of Carnegie Hall in 2016, he … was a benefactor with deep pockets and a strong interest in the hall’s education efforts. He was the rare board leader of color in a field where diversity lags,” writes Robin Pogrebin in Wednesday’s (12/9) New York Times. “It came as a shock this fall when Mr. Smith, 58, admitted to having played a supporting role in what federal prosecutors called the largest tax evasion case in U.S. history … and signed a nonprosecution agreement in which he agreed to pay large fines and cooperate with investigators.… Carnegie Hall [is] the latest in a line of major cultural institutions that have found themselves facing questions about the actions of the benefactors that they rely on for their very survival. Carnegie’s leaders are standing firmly behind Mr. Smith…. ‘He is beloved,’ said Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, who is a Carnegie trustee. ‘I do not think we should ask for his resignation. And I don’t think you will find anybody on the Carnegie Hall board who disagrees.’ … Clive Gillinson, Carnegie’s long-serving executive and artistic director, said, … ‘Without exception, everybody is 100 percent behind him.’ ”
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