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The Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Capital One Arena on Dec. 7 instead of the Kennedy Center, which is at the center of a legal dispute over adding President Donald Trump's name.
The Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Capital One Arena in Washington on Dec. 7, a Kennedy Center spokesperson said Monday. The event moves from the riverfront performing arts building that has been at the center of a legal fight over adding President Donald Trump's name.
Kennedy Center Honors Move Downtown
The 49th annual awards will take place at the downtown arena instead of the Kennedy Center. Few other details were immediately available, and the spokesperson gave no explanation for the change. A tarp has covered portions of the signage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The center's board voted last month to close the iconic venue along the Potomac River waterfront.
That vote came after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump's name to the building. Trump has said in social media posts that the center needed to close for safety repairs. Trump also said the repairs would only happen if the board was allowed to move forward with plans to add his name to the building. A federal judge has twice said that cannot happen without the approval of Congress.
Congress has allocated US$257 million for repairs. The president hosted the 2025 awards, whose honorees included Sylvester Stallone and George Strait. He said at the time that he would rename the facility the Trump Kennedy Center. Not long after, workers began adding his name to the building.
Trump Name Change Faces Legal Challenge
The board of trustees, named by Trump, voted unanimously for the change. The name change has been challenged in court since then. The Kennedy Center Honors recognize people for lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts. The awards were established in 1978.
The 2026 honorees are set to be named at a later date, the center's spokesperson said. The event will take place on Dec. 7 at Capital One Arena. Congress named the performing arts center as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy in 1964, the year after he was assassinated. The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else.
It also prohibits putting another person's name on the building's exterior. The legal dispute has centered on whether the board can add Trump's name without congressional approval. A federal judge has twice ruled that it cannot. The board voted to close the building after the judge's ruling blocked the name change.
Honorees Celebrated Through Performing Arts
Trump has framed the closure as necessary for safety repairs. He has tied those repairs to the name change. The judge's rulings have left the name change on hold, and the building closed, as the legal fight continues. The Kennedy Center Honors are a major annual event in American culture.
They celebrate lifetime achievements in the performing arts. The move to Capital One Arena marks a significant change for the ceremony, which has long been held at the Kennedy Center. The 2025 awards were hosted by Trump and honored Stallone and Strait, among others. The 2026 honorees have not yet been announced.
The spokesperson said they will be revealed at a later date. The event will take place on Dec. 7 at the downtown Washington arena. The Kennedy Center itself remains closed after the board's vote last month. The legal dispute over the name change continues in federal court.
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CTVToronto:Kennedy Center Honors to be held at Capital One Arena amid fight over adding Trump's nameThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Kennedy Center Honors Capital One Arena Donald Trump Legal Dispute Performing Arts Kennedy Center Legal Dispute John F. Kennedy
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