Since 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors has celebrated the standout artists who shape culture. Donald Trump just announced the recipients of the 2025 Honors, though he prefers to call them “the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER AWARDS.” He will also be hosting the event.
This year’s honorees include country singer George Strait, hard rock band KISS, actor Sylvester Stallone, Broadway actor Michael Crawford, and disco diva Gloria Gaynor.
“I didn’t want to do it, but they’re going to say I insisted—I did not insist,” Trump said about hosting while announcing the honorees. “But I think it will be quite successful. I used to host The Apprentice finales, and we did rather well with that.” Yes, because those two things are exactly the same in terms of prestige, entertainment value, and target audience.
A New Direction For The Kennedy Center?
Despite skipping the Kennedy Center Honors during his first term, Trump has taken a keen interest in the organization this time around. A few weeks into his second term, he decided to fire dozens of board members and appointed himself as chair. All in a campaign to book “non-woke” programming, which he believes will restore the organization’s “prestige and grandeur.” We were unaware that the Kenney Center had lost that, considering how signifigant the Honors ceremony is each year.
But Trump has also flat-out said that he wants to book “slightly more Conservative” acts. “There are people out there that would not be considered that are much bigger stars than the ones that were [previously] being honored.”
Tom Cruise, who was going to be honored this year as well, cited a “scheduling conflict” as his reason of refusal.
For comparisons sake, 2024’s recipients included filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, rock band Grateful Dead, singer Bonnie Raitt, jazz musician Arturo Sandoval, and the Apollo Theater. 2023 honored comedian Billy Crystal, actress Renée Fleming, singer/songwriter Barry Gibb, rapper/actress Queen Latifah, and singer/actress Dionne Warwick.
The 2025 Kennedy Center Honors will be held in December, with a live broadcast on CBS.
