Latest news with #48thKennedyCenterHonors
Euronews
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Tom Cruise turns down Donald Trump's invite for Kennedy Center Honor
US President Donald Trump has unveiled the slate of stars who will be honoured at the 48th Kennedy Center Honors later this year. They include rockers Kiss, Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone and 'I Will Survive' singer Gloria Gaynor. As the new chairman of the Kennedy Center, Trump announced the honorees himself during a Wednesday press conference at the site. Unlike in his first term, when he didn't even attend the honours ceremony, he announced that he would be hosting it later this year and that he had been deeply involved with the selection process. However, there is one star who will not be making an appearance: Tom Cruise. According to The Washington Post, the film star declined the lifetime achievement award, citing 'scheduling conflicts.' The claim was reportedly confirmed by 'several' former and current Kennedy Center employees. Cruise is fresh off the release of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and the actor has several projects coming, which may make it difficult for him to attend the December ceremony. That, or it is speculated that he refusal may have other motivations, considering he will reportedly be present to receive his honourary Oscar in November. The actor has not publicly commented on President Trump's politics and recently declined to answer a Trump question while promoting the latest Mission: Impossible film in South Korea. Cruise was speaking at a Q&A panel when a reporter asked a question about the possible tariffs imposed by Trump on movie productions. "I watched this film and I saw that it was filmed in many different locations around the world, including Africa,' began the reporter. 'Of course, we all are aware of the tariffs that President Donald Trump has been imposing on overseas productions and films. So, is this particular movie under that tariff? And how much of the film was shot overseas?" Cruise told the moderator: "We'd rather answer questions about the movie. Thank you." During the announcement of this year's Kennedy Center honourees, Trump claimed he 'waited and waited' to receive the award himself but 'was never able to get one.' He then suggested he might choose himself for a future award. 'I waited and waited and waited, and I said, 'The hell with it, I'll become chairman and I'll give myself an honour,'' he said. 'Next year, we'll honour Trump, okay?' He also stated that he 'turned down plenty' of candidates for the honours list because of their politics. 'They were too woke. I had a couple of wokesters,' Trump said. Stallone has a history of backing Trump, while founding Kiss member Ace Frehley endorsed Trump in 2020, so that tracks. However, Gloria Gaynor doesn't fit the bill as much. American chat show host Ana Navarro, who hosts The View, has publicly shared that she hopes Gaynor would turn down the award because of Trump's involvement. 'A few years ago, I got to briefly meet @gloriagaynor at a concert in Miami. She gifted me a keychain that belted out 'I Will Survive,' when you pressed it. Let's just say, during first Trump term, I pressed it til it ran out of batteries,' Navarro began in her Instagram post. 'Yesterday, Trump announced he picked her to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, which he plans to host. Look, the woman is a goddess and deserves all the flowers that come her way. But I wish she wouldn't accept an award from the hands of a man who has attacked the rights and history of women, people of color and LGBTQ. The gay community in particular, helped turn her signature song into an anthem.' She added: 'Trump is a stain on the prestige and significance of the KCH. Don't do it, Gloria!' Une publication partagée par Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarrofl) Trump took over as chairman of the Kennedy Center this year after he fired and replaced several members of the board with his own political supporters. He has vowed to steer the organsiation in a different direction, saying that it was 'not going to be woke.' His revamp of the Kennedy Center fits in with his ongoing push to overhaul cultural institutions like the Smithsonian museums. This week, the White House sent a letter to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, laying out in detail the steps it expects the organization to take as part of an announced review ordering cultural institutions to align their content with Trump's interpretation of American history. The probe will look at all public-facing content, such as social media, exhibition text and educational materials, to 'assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals,' according to the letter. 'This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.' The 48th Kennedy Center Honors will take place in Washington D.C. on 7 December.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Tom Cruise turns down invite to receive lifetime achievement award from Donald Trump: Report
Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has reportedly declined to be among the first group of Kennedy Center Honorees during US President Donald Trump's second term in the White House. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced the recipients of the 48th Kennedy Center Honors. Tom Cruise declines Kennedy Center Honor According to a report by Washington Post, Cruise was invited to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, but he declined due to "scheduling conflicts". The report read, 'Tom Cruise was offered the honors but declined because of scheduling conflicts, according to several current and former Kennedy Center employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss event plans.' The report added that a spokesperson for the actor has declined to comment on the development. More about the honours On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump named Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone and country music great George Strait among the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. This move is part of his ramped-up efforts to take control of the Kennedy Center arts complex earlier this year. Disco diva Gloria Gaynor, rock band KISS, and British theater star Michael Crawford, known for his indelible turn in the lead role of Broadway staple Phantom of the Opera, will also receive the honors, one of the nation's highest arts awards. Trump announced he himself would host the Honors gala, which usually takes place in early December and is later broadcast on CBS. The Kennedy Center, one of the nation's top performing arts venues, is a living monument to the late John F. Kennedy. Opened in 1971, it has long enjoyed bipartisan support. The Kennedy Center is home to the National Symphony Orchestra and also offers theater, opera, comedy and other productions. Back in February, shortly after returning to the Oval Office, Trump ousted the center's leadership and installed himself as board chairman, vowing to purge any programming he deems objectionable. More about Tom Cruise Meanwhile, Cruise is still slated to receive an honorary award for his contribution to the film industry before the end of 2025. In June, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced that he will receive an honorary Oscar at the 2025 Governors Awards on November 16. Over the years, the actor earned Oscar nominations for his performances in films such as Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, and Magnolia. He also got a Best Picture nomination as producer on Top Gun: Maverick. He was most recently seen in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Trump to Host Kennedy Center Honors, Which Will Go to Stallone, Gaynor, Kiss and More
President Donald Trump announced the recipients of the 48th Kennedy Center Honors on Wednesday – the first class of honorees since he took over the arts complex this year – and a major change to the ceremony: He'll be the host. Speaking from the center's Hall of Nations, Trump revealed the 2025 honorees by unveiling five portraits draped in velvet. The group: glam metal band Kiss, Broadway and West End star Michael Crawford, country music legend George Strait, actor Sylvester Stallone and singer Gloria Gaynor. Actor Tom Cruise was offered the honors but declined because of scheduling conflicts, according to several current and former Kennedy Center employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss event plans. A spokesperson for Cruise declined to comment. Before naming the honorees, Trump said he always wanted the award himself but 'was never able to get one.' 'I waited and waited and waited, and I said, 'The hell with it, I'll become chairman and I'll give myself an honor,'' he said, drawing chuckles from a crowd that included Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and members of the White House staff. '… Next year, we'll honor Trump, okay?' The choices may surprise some Trump critics. When Trump took over the Kennedy Center, an overworked joke circulated on social media. Here is political analyst Larry Sabato's version: 'Can you imagine forthcoming Kennedy Center Honors for Lee Greenwood, The Village People, and Kid Rock? Inevitable with Trump as Chair. Prepare your stomach.' It certainly seemed as if Trump had major plans in store for the honorees. At a board meeting in March, Trump said: 'We'll go slightly more conservative, if you don't mind, with some of the people. There are people out there that would not be considered that are much bigger stars than the ones that were being honored.' He even suggested offering honors to deceased icons and widening the scope of possible recipients to include athletes, business luminaries and politicians. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Trump's class of honorees is how comfortably it fits with those that came before it. A-list actor? Check. Aging rock band? Check. Broadway star? Check. (The Washington Post previously reported that the center was 'seriously' considering Strait, Crawford and Kiss.) Trump said he was 'very involved' in selecting the 2025 honorees and turned down names he didn't approve of. 'I would say I was about 98 percent involved. They all went through me,' he said. '… I had a couple of wokesters. Now, we have great people. This is very different than it used to be, very different.' Not all of the artists have supported Trump, including the face – that is, the tongue – of Kiss. Bassist Gene Simmons, whom Trump fired during the first season of 'The Celebrity Apprentice,' backed Trump during his first term – but soon changed his tune. 'Look what that gentleman did to this country and the polarization – got all the cockroaches to rise to the top,' Simmons told Spin of Trump in 2022. 'Once upon a time, you were embarrassed to be publicly racist and out there with conspiracy theories. Now it's all out in the open because he allowed it.' 'I don't think he's a Republican or a Democrat,' Simmons added of the president. 'He's out for himself, any way you can get there. And in the last election, over 70 million people bought it hook, line and sinker.' Simmons's bandmate Paul Stanley appears to have had a more favorable view of Trump. Days after the 2024 election, Stanley wrote on X: 'IT'S OVER. If your candidate lost, it's time to learn from it, accept it and try to understand why. There will be no building bridges to those you don't agree with by being condescending, insulting, talking AT them or removing yourself.' Gaynor, a Grammy Award-winning singer from New Jersey, rose to fame during the disco era of the 1970s. While she isn't known to be political, her hit song 'I Will Survive' has become an anthem for marginalized groups – particularly within the LGBTQ+ community – and was named to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2015. If Trump's personal tastes align with any of the picks, it would be Crawford. Trump is famously a fan of 1980s Broadway hits, particularly 'The Phantom of the Opera,' the title role of which Crawford originated. Trump would often play songs from the musical at his rallies. Stallone, though, has emerged as a prominent Trump booster. In November, the Rocky actor gave a warmup speech for Trump at Mar-a-Lago, where Stallone described him as the 'second George Washington,' called him a 'mythical character' and compared him to Rocky Balboa. In January, as president-elect, Trump named Stallone – along with Mel Gibson and Jon Voight – as 'Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,' and tasked them with 'bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK-BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!' Strait, meanwhile, is a country legend – a genre that soundtracks many red states – but he has long kept fairly mum on his political leanings. The ceremony will take place Dec. 7 and will later be broadcast on CBS. During the news conference, Trump spoke about an array of topics, including crime, his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the landscape of D.C. 'We're going to make it so beautiful again,' he said of the city whose police he has placed under federal control. '… When you look at the parks where the grass is old, tired, exhausted. We're going to redo the grass with the finest grasses. I know a lot about grass because I own a lot of golf courses.' He also made unsubstantiated claims that, since becoming chairman of the Kennedy Center, 'we have completely reversed the decline of this cherished national institution.' 'We ended the woke political programming, and we're restoring the Kennedy Center as the premier venue for performing arts anywhere in the country,' Trump said. 'Anywhere in the world.' As of earlier this summer, subscriptions to the center's programming were down from last year, and several artists have boycotted the center. Trump said of the columns supporting the center, 'When you see them the next time, they'll be magnificent,' before praising the 'bones' of the building. Outside the center Wednesday, about a dozen demonstrators gathered with signs and bullhorns to protest Trump's involvement in the arts. Since returning to office in January, the president has targeted prominent arts and cultural institutions, including the Smithsonian, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress. There will be potential changes to the honors, according to the current and former employees. The center has contacted the jeweler Tiffany & Company about redesigning the medallions, which have traditionally depicted President John F. Kennedy on one side and the building on the other, with a rainbow-colored ribbon meant to represent different artistic skills and talents. The annual dinner at the State Department may be moved to the White House. The White House and Tiffany did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, Done+Dusted, the production company that produced the past several Kennedy Center Honors (as well as recent Mark Twain Prizes for American Humor, the center's other big televised event), pulled out of producing this year's honors. Matthew Winer, the center's internal executive producer of the honors, has resigned from the center, along with Emeline Carlisle, the producer and honoree manager. Even in less tumultuous years, the Kennedy Center Honors are a complex, logistical undertaking. The show usually consists of 70 or more other artists celebrating the honorees. Last year, the 2½-hour show featured Queen Latifah, David Letterman, Robert De Niro, Dave Chappelle, Sheryl Crow, Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese, many of whom are outspoken Trump critics. With so many performers avoiding the center, who will be there on the actual night? It might be where Lee Greenwood, the Village People and Kid Rock come in.
