Topline
The Kennedy Center is accused of turning the nation’s national cultural center into a “lifeless husk” and of keeping up huge tarps that block the building’s sign, which no longer contains President Donald Trump’s name, to “massage broken egos” in court documents, as the legal battle over the performing arts venue drags on.
Plaintiff Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, criticized the tarps blocking the Kennedy Center sign in a court filing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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Key Facts
Lawyers representing Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who sued Trump and the Kennedy Center in December over Trump’s legally dubious bid to rename the center after himself, accused the center of dodging court orders to remove all Trump-related branding and to keep operations open after a judge blocked its planned closure for renovations.
Beatty’s lawyers noted a large tarp “inexplicably remains” outside the Kennedy Center, preventing onlookers from seeing where Trump’s name has been removed, accusing the center of “undermining” the court’s order to restore the original name.
Beatty’s filing also accuses the Kennedy Center of turning the venue into a “lifeless husk” by allegedly failing to comply with a court order that prevented the center from shutting down for two years of renovations, noting the center has hardly scheduled programming for after July 5, when the closure was planned.
The Kennedy Center, though, said in a filing it plans to maintain an “operational model” past July 5 by offering “continued public access to the Center’s public spaces and to the living memorial for President Kennedy.”
The center claimed the court order barring the closure did not require it to reschedule previously cancelled programming or to schedule new events, and its online schedule for July and beyond looks largely barren save for film screenings on the weekends.
The legal battle over the Kennedy Center has progressed to a federal appeals court after the center appealed a previous ruling a judge issued in late May that ordered it to remove Trump’s name and blocked it from closing for renovations.
Why Do Tarps Remain At The Kennedy Center?
Workers erected a large tarp that blocked most of the Kennedy Center’s sign in the early hours of June 13 as they removed Trump’s name from the building’s facade. Though the center said in a court filing it removed Trump’s name, onlookers have not been able to see the proof for themselves as the tarps have remained standing. Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi told the Washington Post the tarps are up to repair the marble facade, but did not say when they are expected to come down. The center has repeatedly fought the court’s order to remove Trump’s name, including a last-minute request for a pause to the judge’s ruling shortly before the deadline to restore the original name, which was rejected.
chief critics
Democrats in Congress have criticized the center for keeping up the tarps, with Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., calling it a “literal coverup” in a post on X. “It will be a beautiful day when the name of the Kennedy Center is restored to visibility,” Raskin said, accusing Trump of “vandalizing federal property” by adding his name to the center. Jack Schlossberg, a congressional candidate and the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, accused Trump in an interview with MS NOW on Sunday of “attacking President Kennedy’s legacy” with his bid to rename the center. Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., accused the Kennedy Center in a post on X of “hiding the sign” with “no plans” to take the tarp down, calling it “petty” and “embarrassing.
key background
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled in May the center must revert to its original name and remove Trump’s, saying the center’s establishing law requires congressional approval for any name change. The ruling also blocked the center’s planned two-year closure because the decision to close was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained,” based on an “insufficient, one-sided presentation of information” that failed to consider the center’s statutory obligations. Trump launched a takeover of the Kennedy Center early in his second term. He criticized it for allegedly “woke” programming and gutted the center’s board, replacing terminated members with allies. The board then voted to add Trump’s name to the center in December, shortly after which Beatty filed her lawsuit.
further reading
One Week After Kennedy Center Removed Trump’s Name—Tarps Still Block Sign (Forbes)