Cinema News: Trump and Epstein in a ‘Titanic’ embrace

March 13, 2026 | View in browser

By Jessica Gelt

Arts Editor

Just in time for Oscar Sunday, one of the country's most prolific satirical arts groups has erected a third statue highlighting the allegedly cozy relationship between President Trump and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein by depicting the men in an iconic scene from the blockbuster film "Titanic."

The 12-foot-tall golden statue on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., features Trump standing in for Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack, and Epstein for Kate Winslet's Rose, as Trump holds Epstein from behind on the bow of a boat.

In a letter to The Times, a representative for the anonymous group known as Secret Handshake wrote that the statue is titled "King of the World," a reference to the words "Titanic" director James Cameron infamously shouted in 1998 after winning the Oscar for director, and also to Trump's many trolls about being an actual king.

A plaque on either side of the statue reads, "The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches. This monument honors the bond between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, a friendship seemingly built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches."

The "nude sketch" in question is the drawing of a suggestive female form that Trump allegedly included on his 50th birthday card to Epstein, along with a note that read in part, "may every day be another wonderful secret."

The statue, Secret Handshake noted, is flanked by "10 giant banners honoring Trump and Epstein. Why? Because 2026 has been a banner year for President Trump. Meaning he's added giant banners of his face to federal buildings all across DC. We want to help him on his mission by tossing a few of our own in the mix."

This third installation in Secret Handshake's growing Trump-Epstein oeuvre follows January's installation of a 10-foot-tall replica of Trump's birthday card to Epstein, which was signed by more than 500 passersby; and a spray-painted bronze statue titled "Best Friends Forever," which featured Trump and Epstein gleefully holding hands. That 12-foot-tall inaugural entry appeared on the National Mall in September and was promptly taken down by the National Park Service, which resulted in a flurry of national news coverage.

The necessary permits for the statue — which the group had received — were eventually honored and the statue was ultimately reinstalled.

A rep for Secret Handshake said that since that permitting debacle, the permits the group has gotten have been granted without issue, "so far."

I'm Arts editor Jessica Gelt, casting my Oscar vote for subversive artistic expression. Here's your arts and culture news for the week.

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY

ArtNight Pasadena
Cultural institutions large and small will partner to turn Crown City into Art City for an evening of free programming featuring visual arts, literary arts, dance, music and theater. Participants include the Gamble House, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena Conservatory of Music, USC Pacific Asia Museum and many more.
6-10 p.m. Locations throughout Pasadena with shuttle service between venues. cityofpasadena.net

Conbody vs Everybody
The new director's cut of Debra Granik's episodic documentary chronicling the efforts of former drug dealer Coss Marte and his Lower East Side gym to help formerly incarcerated New Yorkers successfully re-enter society receives its North American premiere this weekend. The series was shot from 2014-2021 and earlier versions of the first two episodes premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Episodes 1-3: 7:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday; episodes 4-5: 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Billy Wilder Theater, UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. cinema.ucla.edu

Fairview
Jackie Sibblies Drury's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a Black woman's efforts to throw Grandma the perfect birthday party undercut by uncooperative family members. Directed by Oz Scott.
Through April 19. Rogue Machine Theatre at The Matrix, 7657 Melrose Ave. roguemachinetheatre.org

JR
The exhibition "Horizons" features four large-scale photographic interventions originally created by the French artist in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tehachapi and along the U.S.-Mexico border near Tecate.
Through April 25. Perrotin, 5036 W, Pico Blvd. perrotin.com

Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985
Works by African American and Afro-Atlantic diaspora artists and activists demonstrate their contributions to the Black Arts Movement and social change.
Through June 14. J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. getty.edu

Sad Boys in Harpy Land
Experimental clown artist Alex Tatarsky performs an absurdist work blending references from Goethe, Dante, Amiri Baraka, Helen Adams and Seinfeld with autobiography.
8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org

John Williams & Rachmaninoff
LA Phil's principal trumpet Thomas Hooten plays Williams' "Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra" and Anna Handler conducts the "Symphonic Dances" by Rachmaninoff.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

SATURDAY
Jack Pierson
Curator Hamza Walker and the artist discuss Pierson's new solo exhibition "Curtains," touching on the themes and materials that go into his word sculptures composed from salvaged vintage signage and works on paper steeped in the mythology of old Hollywood.
11 a.m. Saturday; exhibition runs through April 18. Regen Projects, 6750 Santa Monica Blvd. regenprojects.com

Charles Gaines
The noted visual artist translates Fluxus artist Benjamin Patterson's "Variations for Double-Bass" into a composition performed by a 17-piece chamber ensemble led by conductor John Eagle, with corresponding texts from a Patterson score. The performance will be followed by a 10-minute conversation.
8 p.m. Saturday. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu

Turandot
Pacific Opera Projects performs Puccini's icy fairy tale opera starring Shannon Jennings, Clay Hilley and Sara Duchovnay. Directed by POP artistic director Josh Shaw.
7:30 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday and March 22. JACCC Aratani Theatre, 244 South San Pedro St., Little Tokyo. pacificoperaproject.com

SUNDAY

Greystone Mansion Tour
The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles visits the 1927 Gordon B. Kaufmann-designed estate in all its 46,000-square-foot, Jazz Age grandeur, with panoramic views and a scandalous murder-suicide history.
11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Greystone Mansion, 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills. artdecola.org

Alcée Chriss III
The Texas-born, gospel- and jazz-influenced keyboardist performs an organ recital with works ranging from Rachmaninoff and Back to "Over the Rainbow" by Harold Arlen.
7:30 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

This Shining Night
For this year's "In Sacred Spaces" series, the Los Angeles Master Chorale performs contemporary works by Eric Whitacre, Reena Esmail, Shawn Kirchner and Morten Lauridsen, as well as Renaissance composer William Byrd and modern masters including Michael Abels and Jennifer Lucy Cook.
7:30 p.m. Sunday. St. Andrew Catholic Church, 311 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; 4 p.m. March 21. La Verne Church of the Brethren, 2425 E St. lamasterchorale.org

TUESDAY
She Dared to Dream
A new documentary profiling Rep. Ayanna Pressley, the first Black woman elected to represent Massachusetts in Congress. Directed by Abby Ginzberg.
7 p.m. California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park. caamuseum.org

WEDNESDAY

The English Patient
A 35mm screening of the 1996 multi-Oscar winner starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe and Kristin Scott Thomas. The film, written and directed by Anthony Minghella, will be introduced by the late filmmaker's children, Hannah and Max Minghella.
7:30 p.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org

THURSDAY
5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche
The annual quiche breakfast for the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein is interrupted by nuclear annihilation in this immersive, 1956-set comedy by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood — and you're invited!.
7:30 p.m. Thursday through March 22 and March 26-29. Glendale Church of the Brethren, 626 N. Pacific Ave. everythingimmersive.com

Matthew Morrison
The Tony-, Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated performer — and Orange County School of the Arts alum — cuts loose on his "Rhythms Revelations" tour.
7 p.m. Thursday-March 21. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Samueli Theater, 300 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa; 7:30 p.m. March 22. Plaza Theatre, 128 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. matthewmorrisontour.com

Arts anywhere

New releases of arts-related media.

Classical California
SCREEERWLRTCK!!! [record scratch]
In last week's newsletter, I failed to note that good ol' KUSC has officially rebranded as Classical California after teaming up with San Francisco's KDFC. (Our state's radio listeners apparently do not have as adversarial a relationship to one another as SoCal/NoCal sports fans.) To further my humiliation, my smartphone-addled brain included the incorrect frequency and URL. Listen at 91.5 FM and stream at classicalcalifornia.org

Francis Bacon: Paintings: The Complete Collection
"Bacon jolts us into remembering that we are animals," wrote Times art critic William Wilson on the occasion of a 1990 retrospective of the British painter's work at LACMA. "There isn't a dime's worth of difference between the dog he painted after one Muybridge photo and the paralytic child he took from another, walking on all fours like his brother simians. All beasts are subject to sudden and violent extinction at the hands of other beasts. When he paints two nude men embracing in a field, they are like creatures in a zoo. You can't tell if they are copulating or killing each other. Maybe both." You can now own Bacon's entire menagerie of despair with this handsome volume featuring more than 700 high-quality reproductions of his work, interspersed with quotes from the artist, his friends, critics and admirers, including Lucian Freud, Roald Dahl and Damien Hirst. Heni Publishing: 568 pp. $55.

Viva Verdi!
Yvonne Russo's life-affirming documentary about a retirement home for musicians and opera singers in Italy managed to snag an Academy Award nomination for original song with the aria "Sweet Dreams of Joy," sung by soprano Ana María Martínez and composed by Nicholas Pike.
10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7 p.m. Monday. Laemmle Glendale, 207 N. Maryland Ave.; Laemmle Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino; Laemmle Monica Film Center, 1332 2nd St. laemmle.com

— Kevin Crust

Culture news and the SoCal scene

I highly recommend you head to the block party tomorrow in celebration of the opening of Lauren Halsey's monumental sculpture park in South-Central L.A. The project, which doubles as a community center programmed by Halsey's nonprofit, has been on Halsey's to-do list for nearly 20 years. Freelancer Jane Horowitz recently sat down with Halsey on-site to talk about the realization of her long-held dream and how she hopes it will resonate with the community it serves.

Sad news in the L.A. dance world as Bodytraffic announces it will close after 20 years. Steven Vargas gets the scoop on the imminent shuttering of the vibrant contemporary dance company, and why its founder — despite deep sadness over the decision — has concluded it's time to start a new chapter.

The Whitney Biennial is currently being staged in New York City and one in six participants has lived or worked in L.A. in the last few years. Freelancer Grant Klarich Johnson sat down with four L.A. artists, most of whom have been deeply affected by last year's wildfires. The trauma has informed their artistic practices in a variety of ways.

L.A.'s win is D.C.'s loss as Jean Davidson, executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, announces she will leave that position to become the executive director and chief executive of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Davidson will assume her new position May 4. The Kennedy Center is set to close for renovations on July 4, but Davidson said the NSO has secured alternate performance venues for its current and future seasons.

Actor Timothée Chalamet generated a ton of anger and angst when he said that "nobody cares" about ballet or opera. Here's how I feel about that.

Classical music critic Mark Swed caught a performance of the Philip Glass opera "Akhnaten" at LA Opera, singling out the "magnificent" countertenor, John Holiday, in the title role. "Although he can be a popularly gregarious crossover performer, here he suggests a ruler of profound, unflappable dignity, rather than vulnerability. His hymn to Aten is an exercise in majesty, an ode not just to the sun but to the expanses in which our solar system circulates," Swed writes.

"An artist known as Jeffrey's Human Persona has remained anonymous for nearly 25 years — the same length of time that he has staged guerrilla-style musical puppet shows titled "almighty Opp" on a gritty street corner in Koreatown on the last Saturday of each month," I wrote in a story about the man behind the myth and what drives him to stage his beloved "services."

Five major L.A. museums and galleries have announced their joint commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. The Getty, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, the Hammer and Hauser & Wirth this week issued a collective statement about their intention to implement the Bizot Green Protocol — a set of recommendations that lay out a climate-conscious approach for the care of art collections. Museums and galleries have long struggled with a reliance on energy for dealing with issues of climate control and humidity in spaces containing highly sensitive art materials; other practices that have an impact on the environment include the transport of art via air travel as well as managing general exhibition waste.

In a statement, the participating institutions wrote, "Though not a direct cause, climate change was an exacerbating factor in the size and devastation of the recent Los Angeles-area fires, which took a toll on our cultural institutions, galleries and artists. Increasingly, the cultural sector is being shaped by and is responding to climate change as part of fulfilling our mission of caring for and exhibiting our shared cultural heritage. It is vital that our sector take action to both reduce our environmental impact and improve our resilience, so that we can continue to fulfill this mission."

"This is the first time that Los Angeles art institutions have announced together their commitment to these recommendations, and it is our hope that it will motivate others to commit as well," said Camille Kirk, sustainability director at Getty, said in a news release about the initiative.

— Jessica Gelt

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