CBS aired the Kennedy Center Honors on Tuesday, Dec. 23, as the storied performing arts institution in Washington, D.C., faces renewed controversy over its name.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Dec. 18 that the Kennedy Center — dedicated in 1964 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy — would now be known as “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
Because this year’s Honors ceremony was taped before the change, it was unclear whether CBS would revise the program branding to match the new name.
CBS ultimately kept the on-screen title, “The 48th Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” consistent with how it appeared when the ceremony was filmed. But the broadcast opened with a voiceover introducing it as “the Trump Kennedy Center Honors on CBS.”
At the same time, a title frame displayed “The Kennedy Center Honors,” followed by the line: “The following is a Donald J. Trump and Kennedy Center Production.”
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Dispute Over the Vote to Rename the Center
In her Dec. 18 statement, Leavitt said the institution’s MAGA-aligned board “voted unanimously” to rename the center. However, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty — an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board who has a vote through her role in Congress — disputed that characterization, alleging she was prevented from speaking during the call.
“Be clear: I was on that call, and as I tried to push my button to voice my concern, to ask questions and certainly not to vote in support of this, I was muted,” Beatty said in a video shared via X on Dec. 18. “Participants were not allowed to voice their concerns who were online, yet it was said at the end it was a unanimous vote.”
The Kennedy Center was established by an act of Congress, and critics have argued in recent days that only Congress has the authority to formally change its name.
Even so, the organization quickly updated its logo on its website and social media to read “The Trump Kennedy Center,” and signage on the building was updated the next day to add Trump’s name.
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Kennedy Family Members Speak Out
Several prominent members of JFK’s family — including grandson Jack Schlossberg, grandnephew Joe Kennedy III, and nieces Maria Shriver and Kerry Kennedy — have criticized the move as an unusual effort to attach Trump’s name to another president’s memorial.
Trump’s Remarks During the Ceremony
While emceeing the event, Trump also took aim at people in the room.
“If there is one thread that connects all of these amazing artists together, it is the word persistence,” he said. “I can say that with a lot of the members of our audience, I know so many of you and you are persistent,” he added, before jabbing that “many of you are miserable, horrible people.”
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The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual event recognizing artists for major contributions to American culture across music, dance, theater, opera, film, and television.
Trump made history at the 2025 ceremony as the first sitting president to host the event. This year’s honorees were Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, KISS, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford, selected by Trump’s hand-picked Kennedy Center board.
Earlier in the year, the board voted Trump chairman of the Kennedy Center, giving him a level of control over the historically nonpartisan institution that critics describe as unprecedented.
