After the public jeering of US Vice President JD Vance at the Kennedy Centre and the wild reaction Taylor Swift received at the Super Bowl, its time to address the resurgence of ‘booing’
We’re officially booing again, and it feels like a step in the right direction. Outside the realm of sports and arena tours, the beloved artform has been all but lost. But this year, booing is back on the table and people no longer need big crowds to feel emboldened.
On March 13, US Vice President JD Vance was booed at Washington’s Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts as he took his seat for a National Symphony Orchestra concert. As Vance and his wife filed into the elevated box tier, attendees began loudly booing and jeering from below.
Some protest was to be expected, particularly given the ongoing criticism of President Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Centre—a long-celebrated cultural institution. In February, Trump purged the bipartisan board to secure the seat of chairman, also appointing Usha Vance to the board.
More than who was being booed, the real surprise was that such loud and angry disapproval was taking place in a reputably cultured space, by classical music lovers no less. The juxtaposition added to the weight of the incident, which has become front-page news.
The incident is reminiscent of another public booing that took at the Super Bowl match between Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. Taylor Swift, who’s dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, was booed by thousands in the crowd when her face appeared on the Jumbotron.
“The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift,” President Trump posted on Truth Social following the event. “She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!” To clarify, Swift was not actually booed out of the stadium, though she was visibly confused and uncomfortable by the reaction.
Booing never really went away. We’ve all heard – and participated in — our share of adrenaline-fuelled jeering at sports games. Or at concerts when artists tried to leave without playing a big hit. But a sentiment seems to be stirring, joking or otherwise, that people are ready to express their deep displeasure in a more vocal and direct way. In fact, it might be the only way they’re heard.
TikTok user @hrmanifesto , went viral for jokingly suggesting we bring booing back to the office: “What if we allowed booing?…Like if someone says something absolutely ridiculous…what if we were to boo them off stage so to speak. I bet our meetings would stop running over. I bet people would stop just talking to hear their own voices. I bet there’d be a lot of positive change here.”
According to TikTok, it might even be time to start throwing tomatoes again. A viral soundbite has been making the rounds on the social app, prompting people to describe perceived injustices over the sound: “boooo, tomato, tomato, tomato, I’m throwing tomatoes.”
The creator behind the soundbite addressed the moment saying: “Yes, I had to be that dramatic. Me just telling you ‘I don’t like that’ or to ‘shut up’ that would not suffice.” While a lot of TikToks that use the viral sound are about personal gripes or petty opinions, a large majority of users are also calling out troubling corporate pushes or ways in which they were mistreated at work or by their partner.
Booing has gained the reputation of being classless, relegated to certain times and certain places. But the state of the world might just call for a bit of impolite protest.
There is something refreshing about this remerging trend. With people feeling helpless to the changes that are governing their day-to-day lives and forced to endure growing calls for ‘masculine energy’ in their workplaces and a constant barrage of advertisements. Maybe booing is the only way to keep from screaming. And if nothing else, it’s incredibly cathartic.
