Gaynor Kennedy Center Honor Faces Political Backlash

Ana Navarro urges Gloria Gaynor to reject Trump’s Kennedy Center Honor, turning a cultural award into a partisan moment.

Gaynor Kennedy Center Honor Stirs Political Debate

Ana Navarro, a co host of The View, posted on Instagram urging Gloria Gaynor to decline President Trump’s Kennedy Center Honor. She recalled meeting Gaynor in Miami and receiving a keychain that sang I Will Survive; Navarro noted the battery ran out during the first Trump term and urged Gaynor not to accept an award from a president she says has attacked the rights of women, people of color and LGBTQ people. Navarro concluded that Gaynor deserves flowers but not an honor from a man she believes has harmed rights.

Trump announced this year’s Kennedy Center honorees, including Gaynor, Sylvester Stallone, Kiss, Michael Crawford, and George Strait. The president will host the 2025 ceremony. The move comes as Trump reshapes leadership at the Kennedy Center board, a development critics say risks politicizing the event. He has previously dismissed Kennedy Center programming as too woke. Variety said it reached out to Gaynor’s representatives for comment.

The episode shows how a cultural award can become a political stage, inviting public scrutiny of both the honorees and the institution. Celebrity posts can sway opinion but also invite backlash from fans, sponsors, and advocacy groups who watch these moments closely.

As governance at the Kennedy Center shifts under a previous president who frequently frames neutral arts programming as political, the ceremony becomes a test case for how far culture is willing to blend with partisan discourse. Social media magnifies these tensions, pressuring the center to respond and shaping expectations around who should be honored and why.

Highlights

Art and power will continue to collide at the Kennedy Center, no matter who votes on the guest list.