Recommendations of the Editorial team
The Kennedy Center Honors will officially be renamed the Trump Kennedy Center Honors. The president of the Performing Arts Center announced this on Saturday.
In an interview with Washington station WTOP (via Variety), Richard Grenell, president of the now renamed Trump Kennedy Center, said that despite the venue closing over the summer for a two-year renovation, the annual awards ceremony will be held under the new name Trump Kennedy Center Honors.
“It’s definitely going to happen,” Grenell said of the Honors gala amid renovations. “It will probably just be in a smaller venue, meaning demand for tickets will be even higher.”
Rejections after Trump’s renaming
Dozens of artists – most recently Renee Fleming, Philip Glass and the Washington City Opera – have canceled their performances at the performing arts center after Trump gutted the Kennedy Center board, installed himself as chairman and had his newly appointed board vote on a legally dubious renaming that would transform the facility into “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
In a statement to ROLLING STONE, Kennedy Center spokeswoman Roma Daravi said: “Politics has no place in art, and anyone calling for a boycott for political reasons is making the wrong decision. We haven’t canceled a single show. Left-wing activists are urging artists to cancel – but audiences want artists to perform and create, rather than buckling under pressure from political insiders who profit from division.”
Amid the cancellations, the White House announced that it would “suspend gaming operations for a period of approximately two years” starting July 4, 2026 – for “construction, revitalization and a complete renovation” of the venue.
Weak transmission rates
The 2025 Kennedy Center Honors honored Sylvester Stallone, Kiss, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford and George Strait. The broadcast recorded the lowest ratings in the history of the Kennedy Center Honors.
