The Smithsonian’s ongoing exhibition, Entertainment Nation, which opened in December 2022 at the National Museum of American History, has come under renewed scrutiny amid allegations of ideological bias. A congressional hearing held in July 2026 and a 162-page White House report have documented what the administration described as evidence of such bias across the Smithsonian.

Entertainment Nation uses artifacts from music, film, television, theater, and sports to explore how popular culture has shaped American life. However, a Fox News Digital review found that every member of the exhibit’s seven-person curatorial team has incorporated themes of racial injustice, gender inequality, sexuality, or other progressive social causes into their academic work, public commentary, or prior museum projects.

John Troutman, the exhibit’s lead curator, told The Washington Post in 2023 that the project was intended to do more than present a conventional history of entertainment. He said it was not meant to be "a gallery that provides a history of entertainment," but rather to examine broader social movements reflected in popular culture.

Curator Kenneth Cohen authored the 2017 book "They Will Have Their Game," which examines how the development of sports in the United States "produced a sense of democracy while also reinforcing racial, gender, and class divisions," according to his publisher’s description.

Fox News Digital’s review also identified praise for communist-linked figures, alignment with progressive activist movements, and explicit statements connecting museum work to social justice. Critics have described this approach as "fringe or activist ideologies masquerading as history."

The exhibit and its curators have become focal points in the broader debate over ideological influence in cultural institutions, as highlighted by the Trump administration’s actions and the congressional hearing.

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