Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes refused to bow to pressure and said he was 'proud' the company supports The Public Theater, which adapted Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to show a Donald Trump lookalike being stabbed to death.

Bewkes reiterated his backing for The Public Theater during a company meeting on Thursday, saying: 'We're certainly not going to drop our support,' according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The Public Theater, an arts organization based in New York City, has come under fire for its portrayal of the president, prompting Delta Airlines and Bank of America to pull their funding.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes refused to bow to pressure and said he was 'proud' the company supports The Public Theater

New York Public Theater's production of Julius Caesar - which shows a Donald Trump lookalike being stabbed to death - has sparked controversy

Bewkes was confronted by shareholder David Almasi, vice president of the conservative think tank National Center for Public Policy Research, during an annual company meeting on Thursday.

Almasi questioned the fictional assassination in light of the shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalise on Wednesday, echoing Donald Trump Jr's stance.

The first son jumped into charged discussions on Wednesday following a congressional baseball practice shooting that wounded four and retweeted commentator Harlan Hill, who wrote: 'Events like today are EXACTLY why we took issue with elites glorifying the assassination of our President.'

Donald Trump Jr made clear his feelings on Wednesday as he retweeted this posting from Harlan Hill. David Almasi raised a similar point with Bewkes on Thursday

But Bewkes defended Time Warner Foundation's sponsorship of The Public Theater on Thursday and said: 'I'm not going to turn into a drama critic....The point of the play is one being debated for about 400 years.'

The CEO went on to praise the arts organization for its 'good work', and said the Shakespeare play actually makes the case against murdering leaders.

Though the Public's version of the classic play is unchanged from its 400-year-old original, the current production portrays Caesar with a gold bathtub and a pouty Slavic wife. Trump's name is never mentioned, but backlash was swift.

At the start of the third act (above), Roman dictator Julius Caesar is knifed to death on the senate floor by senators who fear he is becoming a tyrant

On Sunday, Donald Trump Jr. retweeted a Fox News story about the play and wrote, 'I wonder how much of this "art" is funded by taxpayers? Serious question, when does "art" become political speech & does that change things?'

Data released on Tuesday by Openthebooks.com shows that nearly $30 million in federal, state and city grants has funded the New York Shakespeare Festival - the parent company to Public Theater - since 2009.

Delta responded to the production by saying 'artistic and creative direction crossed the line on the standards of good taste,' while Bank of America said it would not have sponsored the theater to begin with had it known the play would 'provoke and offend'.

A statement on the Public Theater's website addressed the funding cuts but said it stands completely behind their Julius Caesar production

But the theater stood behind the production, saying it 'provoked heated discussion' - fulfilling 'the goal of our civically-engaged theater'.

Other defenders included Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, who wrote letters to the heads of Delta and Bank of America, arguing that dropping their support 'sends the wrong message.'

He wrote : 'Art matters. The First Amendment matters. Expression matters.'

The furor came straight off the back of a controversial photo shoot of Kathy Griffith, who held up a prop of Trump's decapitated head covered in blood.