Kennedy Center Honorees announced

Trump announced the honorees and said he was heavily involved in choosing them, signaling a break with tradition at the Kennedy Center.

Trump claims direct influence on Kennedy Center Honors selection

At a press conference at the Kennedy Center, President Donald Trump named this year’s honorees: Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, Kiss, George Strait and Michael Crawford. He said he was very involved in selecting the group, a departure from the center’s usual months long bipartisan process that invites input from the board, past honorees and the public.

Trump added that he vetoed a couple of wokesters proposed by the board, but he stressed that the honorees were not chosen because of politics. He described Stallone as a friend and praised Crawford for his Phantom of the Opera role. He also noted that staff encouraged him to host the celebration in December. The executive producer Matthew Winer resigned the morning after the announcement.

The Kennedy Center Honors are awarded for artistic excellence. The 2024 ceremony is set for December 7 and will be shown on CBS with Paramount+ streaming later. The center has undergone leadership changes under Trump, including the firing of the board and its chair and the departure of president Deborah Rutter. The center also sits in a political budget mix, with Trump backed funding promises that some lawmakers say blur the line between culture and politics.

The episode shows how culture and politics are mixing at the highest level. When a president claims control over a cultural honor, the line between governance and art can look blurry. The Kennedy Center has prided itself on a public, bipartisan process; this move risks eroding trust among artists and audiences who value independence. The funding angle matters too. A large federal boost and proposed renamings tied to political goals could push the center to align with a political narrative, not only artistic merit.

This raises questions for the arts world: Will future honorees reflect broad support or political signals? Will artists feel free to speak, or will they model caution to protect funding? The answers will shape not just this event but the center's reputation as a home for artistic achievement free from daily politics.

Highlights

The culture sector faces a test of its ability to keep art separate from power.