The 48th annual Kennedy Center Honors kicked off Sunday evening as celebrities and Washington leaders arrived ahead of the star-studded gala. The honorees — glam metal band Kiss, actor Michael Crawford, country music legend George Strait, actor Sylvester Stallone and disco star Gloria Gaynor — walked the red carpet before the arrival of President Donald Trump, host of tonight’s event, and first lady Melania Trump.
The center was abuzz with activity throughout the evening, as staffers set up a reception in the Grand Foyer with elaborate photo backdrops for each of the honorees: a disco-ball wall for Gaynor, cowboy hats for Strait and the “Rocky” steps for Stallone. Also spotted on the Hall of Nations’ red carpet were Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R); Trump administration official Kari Lake and TV host-turned-healthcare-administrator Mehmet Oz.
The night’s festivities cap an unprecedented year at the storied arts institution, which Trump took control of in February in an overhaul that brought about mass firings and resignations, sent ticket sales plunging and sparked criticism that the president was politicizing an American landmark. Usually, the president and first lady sit in the presidential box of the Opera hall and watch the Honors, but with Trump at the helm as host of the ceremony, this year’s ceremony is likely to have a different feel.
The Honors are usually the biggest fundraising opportunity of the year for the Kennedy Center. On Saturday, the center’s president Richard Grenell said the center had raised $23 million from this year’s Honors, nearly doubling last year’s $12.7 million in fundraising and setting a new record for the nearly five-decade-old institution.
Long among the premier social events in the city, the Honors award lifetime achievements in the arts. In keeping with tradition, tonight’s ceremony will not be available live but will be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 23 and available for streaming on Paramount Plus.
The ceremonies began Saturday with an Oval Office medal ceremony and private dinner at the State Department.
Much of the weekend has borne the fingerprints of Trump, who has molded this year’s Honors around his personal tastes and instincts. The president has long-standing relationships with several honorees — actor Sylvester Stallone is a friend; Michael Crawford starred in Broadway’s “Phantom of the Opera,” a Trump favorite — and has made a number of programming decisions, such as deciding to televise Saturday afternoon’s medal ceremony from the Oval Office for the first time.
The Sunday gala follows a strict five-act structure. The honorees sit in a balcony with the first and second families and they watch as their peers celebrate them from the stage. Each act focuses on one of the five honorees and their artistic discipline.
For the Grateful Dead last year, for example, musicians Dave Matthews and Sturgill Simpson played a few of their songs, interspersed by monologues from self-proclaimed Deadheads like Dave Letterman and Miles Teller. Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, meanwhile, was honored by fellow directors and actors telling stories about the acclaimed director.
There is ostensibly a host to the evening — often a celebrity, this time the president of the United States. But that role is usually overshadowed by the sheer number of A-list actors, musicians, dancers, directors and other luminaries who speak, sing and celebrate the honorees throughout the night.
Which stars would attend the gala had been an open question since Trump’s takeover, after which a slew of artists declared a boycott of the center. Sunday’s lineup includes actor Kelsey Grammer, actor Laura Osnes, country artist Vince Gill and jazz musician Arturo Sandoval, an honoree last year.
On Saturday evening, Trump basked in a two-minute-plus standing ovation as he entered the State Department’s reception, waiting until Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” had ended before taking his seat.
In short remarks, Grenell told the crowd that Trump had saved the Kennedy Center by securing about $250 million in congressional funding and pushing for new programming. The praise prompted smiles from the president as he watched from a nearby table.
“The Kennedy Center was neglected,” Grenell said. “We have totally turned the place around.”
In his own 37-minute, often freewheeling remarks Saturday, Trump mused about the Kennedy Center renovations, Stallone’s career, the New England Patriots, the upcoming UFC fight set to be staged at the White House next year, a recent golf outing with legendary golfer Gary Player, the Biden administration’s policies and other topics.
He also said he was hosting the Honors “at the request of a certain television network.” CBS, the Kennedy Center’s longtime broadcast partner which will air the program in two weeks, is owned by Paramount Skydance Corporation, which is led by David Ellison, a Trump ally.
Speaking from the red carpet Sunday, Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations at the Kennedy Center, noted the institution will play a central role in celebrations for the country’s 250th anniversary. “Going into America 250, there is a really clear path forward for us as America’s Cultural Center,” she said. “We are going to be celebrated by countries around the world.”
Trump has repeatedly referred to the Kennedy Center as the “Trump Kennedy Center,” and House Republicans have suggested renaming the building after the Trumps. When asked Sunday evening about such changes, Daravi said, “This is the Kennedy Center and we are at the Kennedy Center [Honors].”
The post Kennedy Center Honors kick off with red carpet, Trump’s arrival appeared first on Washington Post.
