Barbra Streisand is criticizing President Donald Trump over his controversial handling of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The EGOT winner released a statement on her official website Thursday, a day after an image that photojournalists captured through the windows of Air Force One showed Trump examining a poster board that appeared to display the words: “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.”
“In 2008, I was deeply honored to be included in the 31st annual class of Kennedy Center Honorees. For me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy,” Streisand wrote. “That is why what is happening to the Kennedy Center is so galling and painful to witness.”
Her comments came as a district judge in Washington instructed the Kennedy Center on Thursday to provide at least 30 days’ notice before carrying out any significant changes to their renovation or construction plan, “including but not limited to any ‘demolition’ of the center’s main building,” The New York Times reported.
The Kennedy Center has been at the center of a legal battle as Trump has slammed a court decision to block his name, two times now, from being added to the building’s exterior. On Wednesday, the president told reporters that the arts institution may be “ripped down” if his name does not appear on the building, CNN reported.
Streisand continued, “When Donald Trump attempted to put his name alongside the late President Kennedy’s on the building’s entrance, the move was met with widespread opposition from artists and much of the public. A federal judge subsequently ruled that the Kennedy Center’s name could not be changed without an act of Congress, and Trump’s name was removed from the building’s façade.
“Yet the fight continued. After his name was removed, a humiliated Trump ordered a large tarp placed over the façade, where it remains today. The Trump-aligned board then relentlessly lobbied again to add his name, prompting another federal ruling that blocked their effort,” she said. “And now, a thoroughly defeated Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center is being closed for what the completely stacked board describes as a major renovation. Oddly, when Trump’s name was still on the building, there was no discussion of closing it!
“You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego,” Streisand added in her statement, which also included a photo of her and John F. Kennedy in 1963, as well as an image of her and Morgan Freeman at the 31st annual Kennedy Center Honors in 2008.
Read Streisand’s full statement below.
In 1964, in the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s shocking assassination, Congress passed legislation designating the National Cultural Center as a living memorial to him.
The Kennedy family and other American leaders wanted a meaningful way to preserve his legacy. Re-naming the Cultural Center in JFK’s honor was a fitting choice, because he was a true champion of the arts.
Since then, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has stood as one of America’s great cultural venues. Many of the world’s most accomplished actors, musicians, singers and dancers have graced its stages.
In 2008, I was deeply honored to be included in the 31st annual class of Kennedy Center Honorees. For me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy.
That is why what is happening to the Kennedy Center is so galling and painful to witness.
When Donald Trump attempted to put his name alongside the late President Kennedy’s on the building’s entrance, the move was met with widespread opposition from artists and much of the public.
A federal judge subsequently ruled that the Kennedy Center’s name could not be changed without an act of Congress, and Trump’s name was removed from the building’s façade.
Yet the fight continued. After his name was removed, a humiliated Trump ordered a large tarp placed over the façade, where it remains today. The Trump-aligned board then relentlessly lobbied again to add his name, prompting another federal ruling that blocked their effort.
And now, a thoroughly defeated Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center is being closed for what the completely stacked board describes as a major renovation. Oddly, when Trump’s name was still on the building, there was no discussion of closing it!
You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego.
It is difficult not to think about what President Kennedy himself would have envisioned for the Center: not a monument frozen in time, but a living place where artists could challenge, inspire, provoke, and bring Americans together through the transformative power of the arts.
The Kennedy Center was meant to pay tribute to a beloved president, and to advance his philosophy that artistic achievement was proof of a free society. He believed that when the creative impulse cannot flourish freely, a society loses its vitality.
Yet another reason why it is so important that Americans exercise their right to vote in the upcoming midterm elections!