WASHINGTON — The Kennedy Center Honors will move out of the Kennedy Center this year.
The annual celebration of achievement in the performing arts is scheduled for Dec. 7 at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, DC, a Kennedy Center spokesperson said Friday. Officials provided few additional details and did not explain the reason for the venue change.
Capital One Arena, home to the NBA’s Wizards and NHL’s Capitals, holds about 20,000 concertgoers — nearly nine times the 2,347-seat capacity of the Kennedy Center Opera House. The gala has been held there regularly since 1978.
The Kennedy Center has been closed to the public since Sept. 15, when its board voted to shut the building for renovations. The decision followed a federal judge’s ruling blocking the institution from adding President Trump’s name without congressional approval. Congress has allocated $257 million to renovate the 55-year-old building.
That same day, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “the Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name.
“If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place,” he added.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Florida Sex Offender Accused of Using Babysitting Ad Trap; Police Probe Interstate Predator Claims
The Kennedy Center board had earlier pointed to a partial ceiling collapse in the center’s Grand Foyer last month as evidence that the facility needed to close immediately for repairs.
In a draft resolution calling for a two-year construction closure, a consultant and the center’s director said they believed the main building was unsafe for continued occupancy. They also warned that keeping it open could pose additional risks to visitors and employees.
Trump hosted the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors, where actor Sylvester Stallone and country music legend George Strait were among the artists recognized. Several days later, the venue’s board of trustees said it had voted “unanimously” to add Trump’s name to the building, following months in which he had raised the possibility.
Congress designated the performing arts center as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy in 1964, the year after his assassination. The law explicitly bars the board of trustees from turning the center into a memorial for anyone else or placing another person’s name on the building’s exterior.
The decision to add Trump’s name was challenged in court, and a judge ordered that it be removed earlier this year.
The 2026 Kennedy Center honorees will be announced at a later date.
NEXT UP: France Rocked by Student Riot as Videos Show Women Attacked
