Topline
The Kennedy Center performing arts venue dropped President Donald Trump’s name from its website Monday ahead of a court deadline to do so, though it has not yet been removed from the building’s exterior.
The exterior of the Kennedy Center still bears Trump’s name as of Monday. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Trump’s name no longer appears on the Kennedy Center website as of Monday afternoon, dropping its former branding as the “Trump Kennedy Center” following Trump’s push to rename the national cultural center after himself.
The change comes days before a court deadline for the center to abandon Trump’s name, after a U.S. district judge ruled the center’s name cannot be changed without an act of Congress.
The center also referred to itself as the “Kennedy Center”—not the “Trump Kennedy Center”—in a Monday email sent to members announcing a list of guest speakers set to attend a ceremony later this month where Bill Maher will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Associated Press reported.
Trump’s name remains on the exterior of the center’s Washington, D.C., building as of Monday afternoon, the Washington Post reported.
Last week, the Kennedy Center ordered staff to scrub references to Trump and change all official materials to “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center” by the court-imposed June 12 deadline, including in email signatures, signs, brochures and the center’s website.
why did a judge order trump’s name be removed from the kennedy center?
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in late May the Kennedy Center cannot be renamed without prior congressional approval, saying the center’s establishing 1964 law “makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy.” The judge ruled in favor of Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who filed a lawsuit arguing the Kennedy Center cannot be renamed by its board of trustees alone. The judge also blocked the Kennedy Center from closing in July for two years of renovations, a move Trump had announced in February to fix what he called a “tired, broken, and dilapidated” venue.
tangent
The Kennedy Center’s Monday email to members announced singer John Mellencamp, former late-night host Jay Leno and comedian Whitney Cummings will speak at Maher’s Mark Twain Prize presentation at the Kennedy Center on June 28. Maher, host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” was announced as the recipient in March, even though the White House had denied reports he was to receive the prize.
key background
Trump made sweeping changes to the Kennedy Center last year, purging the board of its previous appointees and replacing them with hand-picked allies, who then elected Trump as the center’s new chair. In December, the board voted to rename the center after Trump, and his name was affixed to the building’s exterior. Trump had attacked the Kennedy Center for hosting “woke” programming, including shows with LGBTQ themes. “We didn’t like what they were showing and various other things,” Trump said in February, saying “some of the shows were terrible” and “a disgrace.” His effort to take over the center sparked a wave of pushback from artists, some of whom canceled planned appearances, including television writer Shonda Rhimes and actress Issa Rae.
further reading
Judge Blocks Trump’s Effort To Rename Kennedy Center After Himself (Forbes)
Kennedy Center Orders Immediate Removal Of Trump’s Name (Forbes)
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