By Mike Reynolds
The televised Kennedy Center Honors show has regularly drawn solid ratings on the U.S. CBS TV network over the years. The annual event in Washington, D.C. honors those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture, and has been presented annually since 1978, culminating, each December, in a gala celebrating five honorees. This year’s recipients were George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, Sylvester Stallone, the rock band Kiss, and Michael Crawford.
However, with the decision by President Donald Trump to officially add his name to the organization, and his suggestion that this year’s telecast of the 48th annual ceremony, which aired on December 23, 2025 on CBS, would have “the best ratings ever” (due to him serving as host of the show), proved to be a pox on viewership numbers. The Kennedy Center Honors audience in December 2025 averaged just 2.65 million viewers. The 2024 broadcast averaged 4.1 million.
Plus, some artists scheduled to perform at the Center in the coming months have pulled out. Musician Chuck Redd canceled his Christmas performance, and The Cookers, a jazz group, pulled out of the recent “A Jazz New Year’s Eve.” Doug Varone and Dancers have called off an April performance. The Broadway hit Hamilton had been scheduled for a performance at the Kennedy Center from March 3-April 26, and folk singer Kristy Lee has also canceled her performance there. Musician Ben Folds was an artistic adviser at the Center, but resigned upon the announcement that Trump was taking over.
Issa Rae, Peter Wolf, and Rhiannon Giddens have also canceled their scheduled appearances. There’s also news that ticket sales for events at the Center have plunged. At the Center, beyond adding President Trump’s name, he dismissed the board and replaced its members with his own appointees.
Part of the remit by the Kennedy Center has been to ensure that the education and outreach programs and policies of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts meet the highest level of excellence and reflect the cultural diversity of the United States, that facilities are provided for other civic activities at the Center, and that it provides a suitable memorial in honor of the late president.
Two months after President Kennedy’s assassination, an Act of Congress, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 23, 1964, announced that the nation’s National Cultural Center was designated as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The wording in the Act included, “By this Act, President Kennedy’s devotion to the advancement of the performing arts in the United States was recognized,” which demonstrated the bipartisan support for a world-class center for the performing arts in D.C.
The Center’s mission is established in its authorizing statute: present classical and contemporary music, opera, drama, dance, and other performing arts from the United States and other countries; promote and maintain the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the National Center for the Performing Arts; and strive to fulfill the mission as the nation’s cultural center. In addition, the Kennedy Center is supposed to present world-class art by the artists that define our culture today, deliver powerful arts education opportunities nationwide, and embody the ideals of President Kennedy in all the Center’s activities, provided throughout the “living memorial.”
Leave A Comment