Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Kennedy Center Chaos: Outspoken Rep. Joyce Beatty Files Emergency Motion Over “Unlawful Closure,” Fears Trump Will Demolish Building

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Rep. Joyce Beatty remains a warrior in the fight to protect the Kennedy Center.

She filed an emergency motion in court today over the unlawful closure of the theater complex.

She says that a staff member was locked out of the building this morning, which is contrary to Judge Cooper’s most recent judgment.

The worry is that Trump will start demolishing the Kennedy Center the way he did the East Wing of the White House.

Beatty says in her motion:
“The staff member was informed that construction is beginning on the interior
of the building and that the public is completely barred from accessing the facility for “safety reasons.” To be sure, the Court’s order does not prevent Defendants from undertaking renovations and repairs without shutting down. But at this time, the nature of the construction activities and
any potential demolition are unclear. Given the unexplained and unlawful closure, it is possible Defendants intend to undertake immediate steps in order to make public access practically impossible for the foreseeable future, including by demolishing public avenues of access to the building, and thereby evade the Court’s order by fait accompli.”

Read the motion here.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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