#kennedycenter

#Beatty v. #Trump (25-cv-04480, District Court, D.C.) #Lawsuit over the #KennedyCenter capture, renaming, and closure.

2026/03/14

The Court will therefore order that Beatty receive certain information and documents in advance of the meeting, to the extent they exist. It further orders that Beatty be afforded a meaningful opportunity to lodge her dissent at the meeting and not be categorically barred from speaking.

2026/05/29

Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.

stripping ex officio trustees of their voting rights runs afoul of common-law trust principles incorporated into the statute

Beatty is likely to succeed on her claim that the Board violated its fiduciary duty in voting to close the Kennedy Center, “one of the more consequential decisions in the institution’s lifespan.”

The preliminary factual record before the Court reveals that, in ratifying President Trump’s closure announcement, the Board was derelict in discharging the full range of its responsibilities to the Center.

#Beatty v. #Trump (25-cv-04480, District Court, D.C.) #Lawsuit over the #KennedyCenter capture, renaming, and closure. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72069932/beatty-v-trump/

51 Plaintiff's Motion for Miscellaneous Relief 2026/06/05

60 Joint Status Report 2026/06/19

New Court Order 2026/06/24:

① [Trump]'s request to stay or extend the deadline to answer Plaintiff's complaint (60, p.4) pending proceedings [in appellate court] is hereby denied. [Trump] shall answer or otherwise respond to [Beatty]'s complaint by 2026/06/29. The Court will promptly set an initial scheduling conference upon receipt of an answer, to be held following the parties' submission of a joint case management report

② [Beatty]'s 51 is hereby denied without prejudice. [Trump & co.] have represented, by sworn declaration, that they have "halted all steps to effectuate the March 16 decision to wind down programming and fully close the facility by July 5, 2026" and have committed to "maintain[ing] an operational model past July 5." If these representations do not bear out, [Beatty] may renew her motion for an order requiring proof of compliance, but the Court declines to order further sworn declarations at this time.

③ the parties are hereby ordered to file a joint status report within seven days of the mid-July Kennedy Center Board of Trustees meeting alluded to in 60, or by 2026/07/31, whichever is earlier. The joint status report shall apprise the Court of any pertinent factual developments as to plans for future construction and operations at the Kennedy Center. The report shall also indicate the purpose for and status of the tarp and scaffolding that Defendants have erected on the front portico of the Center, to the extent they remain at that time.

#Beatty v. #Trump (25-cv-04480, District Court, D.C.) #Lawsuit over the #KennedyCenter capture, renaming, and closure. As per court order, yesterday the Trump board had to "answer or otherwise respond" to Beatty's lawsuit. They gave up on additional motions to dismiss and answered. So the biggest possible takeaway is that this is likely to last a while and soon discovery can begin. You have to read the answer (Doc 61) side-by-side with the Amended Complaint (Doc 12) to understand the gap between the parties that the lawsuit needs to close. Paragraph numbers are used for citations, rather than pages, because because every word counts. 1 has the boilerplate "no response is required. To the extent a response is required, the remaining allegations are denied." which seems to say they are willing to die on the hill that Trump hadn't "announced plans to demolish the building" this summer. Bold choice! 2 similarly ignores the illegal vote. 3 admits and act violating the organic statute that created the Kennedy Center. Maybe this lawsuit could have been an email? 4 admits the Trump stooges are so bad at being fiduciaries that they don't know when or why the patrons fled. 5 puts Trump's own words on trial. 6 leans hard into "you can't tell us what the law means" but ignores that Congress and permit offices are actual real things with timelines and documents. ... 26: Admitted: President Trump also appointed himself as a general trustee and had the Board elect him as the new chair. This is unprecedented. No American president has ever appointed himself as a trustee of the Kennedy Center, let alone sought to serve as chair. ... and so on...

His name had to come off so he substituted a giant orange streak. #KennedyCenter #WashingtonDC #FreeDC

Shout out to everyone protesting at the Kennedy Center tonight. #KennedyCenter #fascism #uspol

#jfk #rfk #KennedyCenter

Anne Applebaum: "The #KennedyCenter was financially stable until Trump took over: 'In the fiscal year ending in 2024, when the center was led by Pres. Deborah Rutter and a bipartisan board of trustees, it brought in about $40 million more than it spent'." #TrumpMakesEverythingWorse

Occupied DC stands up against fascism and the destruction of our city. #freedc #KennedyCenter

There was a huge protest around the #KennedyCenter last night, with people forming a human chain around it. Tara Hoot, a drag queen who's been using comedy to advocate for the arts, was the MC. #WashingtonDC protestors, despite living under occupation, have been protesting the whole time. Thank you to the Guardian and other foreign outlets for covering some of the marches! https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/19/thousands-protest-closure-of-the-kennedy-center-amid-fears-trump-is-set-to-demolish-the-institution#50501movement #Trump

The vigil, which had been in the works for months, took on fresh urgency at the end of a week that saw the doors to the marble building locked shut, while Donald #Trump stated the structure would be “ripped down” if his name isn’t added to the institution. There were dogs & bikers; elders with gray hair & babies with no hair; people in Nationals jerseys & business casual attire…. Most wore one common item: a red pin that read, “Hands Off the Arts.” #KennedyCenter #arts #law #UShistory #JFK

💕 Hundreds of supporters of the John F. #KennedyCenter for the #PerformingArts gathered Friday as the sun set over the Potomac, surrounded as much of the building as they could, linked arms & chanted, “Hands off! Hands off!” For the first time in what felt to them like ages, their beloved #arts center was brimming with life. #Trump #law #vanity #greed #envy #narcissism #UShistory #JFK #architecture #conservation

#WashingtonDC Photographer Dave Otto says: "Tonight, 09/18, at 6:30, show up and add your voice to the movement that is saying STOP. "Stop treating a national cultural institution as a personal possession. Stop conflating stewardship with ownership. Stop assuming that the public will simply stand by and watch. "Tonight, Hands Off the Arts is asking people to put their bodies around the Kennedy Center—to form a human chain around a place that belongs to all of us." #FreeDC #KennedyCenter

WHAT A NUCKING TODDLER! 🤬 #ToddlerTrump seen through a window aboard #AF1 (deliberate?) looking at a poster that reads: #KennedyCenter DEMOLISHED". The #NarcissistInChief says "it could very well happen if they don't put my name on the building", claiming it was necessary to "boost attendance". REMINDER: Attendance is low BECAUSE he put his name on the building, causing HUNDREDS to cancel their tickets, resulting in performers CANCELING their appearance.

The United States does not negotiate with terrorists. #KennedyCenter #TrumpMustGo #RepublicansDidThis #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol

The #KennedyCenter board voted to close the center Tuesday after a tense meeting in which #Trump called in to berate a Democratic congresswoman who serves on the panel, acc/to 3 sources familiar with the matter. “It was f**king crazy,” said one source familiar with the exchange between Trump & Rep #JoyceBeatty, whose #lawsuit has prevented Trump’s name from being added to the building. #law #vanity #greed #envy #narcissism #UShistory #architecture #conservation

You can't make this stuff up. Absurd though this whole saga is, it shows you how much Trump's vandalism of DC matters to him. He knows he's dying and he's trying to force us to remember him with honor. It is NOT a waste of time or a distraction if it causes this much distress to the mutiny of preverts. https://www.rawstory.com/trump-threatens-kennedy-center/#Trump #KennedyCenter #WashingtonDC

Journalistic mysteries of the modern age:

• Why has no reporter gotten into Mitch McConnell's room or gotten a doctor's comments

• Why no reporter has gotten a photo behind the #KennedyCenter tarp

• Why White House correspondents attended a dinner with a man who has spent a decade undermining them

#MediaMustDoBetter

#Whistleblower allegations of construction problems at #KennedyCenter, adding a new layer to the travails of the arts complex as #Trump tried to seize control. #SheldonWhitehouse (D-RI) said he had received a disclosure from the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit whistleblower protection group, alleging “the Center rushed a series of renovations driven by the President’s aesthetic whims & his desire to star in a series of televised events in December.”

The '#reflecting #pool" took the place of the '#ballroom' while news talk about the sheet covering the facade of the #KennedyCenter and the reflecting pools.... no longer hear about the bunker under the #White #House and the Ballroom... and with #Trump it's always like this, the new scandal covers the previous scandal... and #Americans are unable to keep in mind all the scandals and crimes committed by Trump and his 'administration'. Too many.

Drag queen Tara Hoot is one of the #WashingtonDC protesters who contributed to getting Trump's name off the #KennedyCenter. (Sure, it was the lawsuit, but cowardly judges look to public opinion before the rule. Protesters also help!) As we all know, he wants to keep a tarp up so we can't see the center without his name. So this happened. #50501movement