Kennedy Center Honors moves to Capital One Arena for first time as legal battle keeps building locked

The Kennedy Center Honors — the annual gala that has celebrated American performing arts from the same Opera House stage since 1978 — will leave its home for the first time this December, forced out by a locked building, a federal lawsuit, and a president's insistence on putting his name on the facade.

A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center confirmed on Friday, October 2, that the ceremony will be held at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C., on December 7. The roughly 20,000-capacity arena — home to the NHL's Washington Capitals and the NBA's Washington Wizards — will host what the institution's own Save the Date materials describe, according to CNN, as an 'extension' of the event's tradition.

The main Kennedy Center building is currently locked to the public. Executive director Matt Floca has told a federal court that the closure is necessary due to safety concerns and is being evaluated week by week, according to CNN. The Trump-aligned board voted on September 15 to close the institution for an extensive two-year renovation — a decision that came hours after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled the board could not add President Trump's name to the building without congressional approval, according to MEAWW.

Trump has made clear the stakes he sees in the renovation fight. He said the reconstruction would not proceed unless the court allowed his name to be restored to the institution's facade, according to MEAWW. The board and leadership have argued that Trump's help is needed to raise renovation funds and that his name should be added to acknowledge those efforts — both claims being contested in ongoing federal litigation, according to CNN.

Judge Cooper has also ordered the center to provide 30 days' notice before undertaking any major physical changes to the complex, including demolition. That order followed reports that Trump had been photographed aboard Air Force One examining what appeared to be a sign supporting demolition of the building, according to MEAWW.

The legal fight is not limited to the name dispute. A broader lawsuit has challenged the closure, with critics alleging that cited maintenance issues are a pretext tied to funding leverage and shifts in the institution's artistic direction.

The offsite ceremony is the most tangible sign yet of how far the Kennedy Center has fallen from its footing. Since Trump appointed allies to the board and was elected its chairman last February, the venue has experienced declining ticket sales, high-profile performance withdrawals, and multiple rounds of legal disputes, according to CNN. His heavy involvement has led to a further deterioration of the institution's finances, CNN previously reported.

The Honors show itself has not been immune to the turbulence. Last year, Trump hosted the ceremony himself — the first time a sitting president had done so — and said he was '98% involved' in selecting the honorees, according to CNN. Those honorees included country singer George Strait, the rock band KISS, singer Gloria Gaynor, Tony Award winner Michael Crawford, and actor Sylvester Stallone.

98% involved— Donald Trump, President and Kennedy Center Board Chairman

The 2026 honorees have not yet been selected. The Kennedy Center spokesperson said they will be announced 'at a later date.' Congress appropriated more than $250 million for renovations to the center, according to MEAWW, but the legal proceedings over the scope and conditions of any closure continue to shape what can actually happen to the building.

The event has survived disruption before — during the Covid pandemic, the 2020 ceremony was postponed and eventually held in a hybrid indoor-outdoor format the following year, according to CNN. But it has never before been held entirely off-site. Whether the Kennedy Center building will be open, under renovation, or still locked in litigation by December 7 remains an open question.

Why it matters — The relocation of one of Washington's signature cultural events is the most concrete sign yet that the political and legal fight over the Kennedy Center's future is disrupting the institution's core functions — and the outcome of ongoing court proceedings will determine whether the building itself survives intact.

Sources differ on Reason for the Kennedy Center building closure: Safety concerns requiring week-by-week evaluation, separate from the board's renovation decision (cnn.com) vs A pretext for closure tied to renovation funding leverage and desired artistic and naming changes (nytimes.com)

Reported by politico.com, cnn.com, news.meaww.com, nytimes.com