As they used to say in the old radio serials…”the plot thickens”…in the saga of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Earlier today the Kennedy Center board – a board comprised of White House loyalists, including members of the White House staff – voted to not only close the Performing Arts Center for the next two years for renovations and repairs; but to restore the name that was ordered removed by a federal judge.
In February 2025, the White House made a hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center that included ousting the board and president to replace them with White House loyalists.
Repercussions quickly followed in the form of artistic advisors leaving the Kennedy Center and numerous cancellations of shows and artist performances.
Last December jazz artist Chuck Redd cancelled an annual holiday show and was sued by the Kennedy Center board for breech of contract. The case was eventually tossed out because Redd had never signed a contract. While the case was thrown out of court, the judge did rule that the Kennedy Center must pay Redd’s legal fees – some $250,000.
The final show at the Kennedy Center was held in late June when comedian Bill Maher was presented with the Mark Twain Prize for Humour.
Earlier today (August 13) the Kennedy Center Board met with the intended closure of the Center and renaming the Memorial that only Congress can change.
Defying a court order issued by Judge Christopher Cooper, the board has voted to close the Kennedy Center for a two year period and to replace the name of the current White House resident on the wall of the Kennedy Center.
The board voted to rename the Center, read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump” and to rename the plaza in front of the building after him.
The United States Congress has deemed the Kennedy Center a Memorial to the fallen President who was assassinated in November 1963. The Center can only be altered or renamed by the United States Congress!
Judge Cooper had ruled that only Kenney’s name belongs on The Center and ruled that the proposed two year closure was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained”.
to U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty spoke on the decision saying, “this latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the Court’s ruling, and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed. I will continue to fight for this treasured national monument.”
Given the options of a total shutdown, a partial shutdown that would allow for outdoor programming, or allowing performances in unaffected areas while renovations are ongoing; the board ultimately chose to shutter the center for the next two years. A total closure of the building would also ensure no “snooping around” to see what was being done. However, the board left the option open for the possibility of allowing outdoor programming.
As it turns out, the Kennedy Center is just the beginning….
The East Wing has been destroyed for a proposed ballroom
repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become a laughing stock with not only a return but a massive blow out of algae and defective sealant that the White House is trying to blame on an innocent bystander
a proposed “renovation” of all Washington, D.C. golf courses that would include destroying historic cherry blossom trees
and a 250 foot tall arch that would block most of the iconic buildings and statues in Washington, D.C.
and then there is the proposed painting of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.