Kennedy Center Honors to be Held at Capital One Arena on Dec. 7
The annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremony will move to Washington’s Capital One Arena on Dec. 7 after the main Kennedy Center building was closed for safety assessments.
The Kennedy Center Honors will be staged at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7, according to a spokesperson for the performing-arts complex. The venue change marks the first time the ceremony will be held outside the Kennedy Center’s main building, which remains closed while officials assess structural safety concerns following a recent ceiling collapse.
The list of honorees and the network that will broadcast the event have not yet been disclosed. The ceremony’s long-standing contract with CBS ended last year, and a new broadcast partner will be announced later.
The closure of the Kennedy Center’s primary facility follows a federal judge’s injunction that limited the board’s ability to rename the venue and restricted a two-year shutdown plan pending a more thorough impact review. The judge also ordered the removal of President Donald Trump’s name from the building’s façade after a lawsuit filed by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member.
Financial challenges have been reported at the Kennedy Center, with Justice Department attorneys warning of a potential cash shortfall. The center has indicated that the current shutdown is temporary and that safety evaluations are conducted weekly.
"The funds are fast being expended, and without the Trump Administration, the accounts will dry up and Center will continue its deterioration into an unsafe structure," the attorneys wrote in a filing.
The ceremony traditionally takes place on the first weekend of December; last year’s event was hosted by President Trump and featured honorees such as Sylvester Stallone and George Strait.