The Kennedy Center Honors is in trouble. Three of the five inductees won’t go to the White House for the official dinner and ceremony the night before the CBS show is taped.
They include Norman Lear, Lionel Richie, and Carmen deLavallade. That leaves just LL Cool J and Gloria Estefan who have not said what they will do.
And the situation could get much worse as Donald Trump’s presidency continues. None of the recipients perform on the show, which will be taped the first weekend in December. But the Kennedy Center will have to find people willing to be part of the show if Trump and wife Melania decide they will sit in the presidential booth.
It’s rare for presidents to miss the Kennedy Center taping. But Trump — if he’s still in office then– could make an excuse for being out of town.
Of course, the recipients who’ve already declined the White House invite could defer their induction completely and not show at all. For Lear, who’s 95 years old, that might be tough. But he has a lot of integrity and a lot of awards.
CBS won’t be happy if the Kennedy Center show falls apart. But it’s not a big ratings getter in the first place. They may just agree to take a year off.
What a mess: Trump continues to poison everything good within his reach.
