NEW YORK (AP) — John Mellencamp, Jay Leno and Whitney ***** s will be among the guest speakers when Bill Maher receives the Mark Twain Award for American Humor during a June 28 ceremony at the Kennedy Center.
The center disclosed the list Monday in an email sent to members, who were offered packages ranging from $99 for a seat reservation to $1,500 and more for seating and admission to pre- and post-show receptions. The announcement also marks a notable change in how the center is identifying itself: The news came from the Kennedy Center, not the "Trump Kennedy Center," a switch that also appears on the center's home page.
Last month, a federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump's handpicked board of trustees had acted illegally when they voted to add Trump's name to the venue, which Congress in 1964 named for the recently ***** assinated President John F. Kennedy.
"The Kennedy Center's organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board's unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it," wrote U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.
Although a Kennedy spokesperson suggested the venue might appeal the decision, the center received an email last week from its general counsel that laid out steps for cooperation, including the removal of Trump's name. After mostly ignoring the Kennedy Center during his first term, Trump soon made the center a key part of his overall mission to purge federal cultural institutions of so-called "woke" influences. He ousted the leadership, filled the board of trustees with supporters and presided over such signature events as the Kennedy Honors ceremony.
The center disclosed the list Monday in an email sent to members, who were offered packages ranging from $99 for a seat reservation to $1,500 and more for seating and admission to pre- and post-show receptions. The announcement also marks a notable change in how the center is identifying itself: The news came from the Kennedy Center, not the "Trump Kennedy Center," a switch that also appears on the center's home page.
Last month, a federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump's handpicked board of trustees had acted illegally when they voted to add Trump's name to the venue, which Congress in 1964 named for the recently ***** assinated President John F. Kennedy.
"The Kennedy Center's organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board's unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it," wrote U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.
Although a Kennedy spokesperson suggested the venue might appeal the decision, the center received an email last week from its general counsel that laid out steps for cooperation, including the removal of Trump's name. After mostly ignoring the Kennedy Center during his first term, Trump soon made the center a key part of his overall mission to purge federal cultural institutions of so-called "woke" influences. He ousted the leadership, filled the board of trustees with supporters and presided over such signature events as the Kennedy Honors ceremony.
8 days ago
