Full Breakdown
Trump-Linked Renaming Sparks Kennedy Center Shutdown
By Drooid · · How we work
The Board’s Immediate Closure Decision
The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees voted on Tuesday to close the performing-arts venue “immediately” to permit a planned renovation. The board framed the shutdown as a “safety” measure that would allow a “large and very complex” reconstruction to begin only after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rules on the contested name change.
Legal Conflict Over Naming Rights
Earlier this year the board approved adding former President Donald Trump’s name to the Center. Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio board member, sued to block the renaming, arguing it violated the Center’s status as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. A federal judge issued an injunction earlier on Tuesday, preventing the name change and prompting the board’s shutdown vote.
Official Statements & Responses
He added that he would appeal the injunction and that a negative ruling should be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rep. Her counsel, Norm Eisen (ret.) of Democracy Defenders Action, warned that the closure aims to conceal “terrible mismanagement” and pledged to bring the matter before the courts.
Verbatim Quotes
- “For years, the Kennedy Center has planned to undergo phased renovations, in which we both renovate and maintain some performances. This is how major performing arts centers in the country operate. But donors, patrons, and artists all fled after the unlawful attempt to rename this sacred memorial after Donald Trump,” — Rep. Beatty
- “The Board’s latest shutdown vote is more of the same failure and abuse that has characterized this administration’s treatment of the Kennedy Center,” — Rep. Beatty’s