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Kennedy Center Show on CBS Tonight, Congresswoman Trustee Files Suit to Stop Name Change: “This entire process has been a complete disgrace”

Roger Friedman
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Kennedy Center Show on CBS Tonight, Congresswoman Trustee Files Suit to Stop Name Change: “This entire process has been a complete disgrace”

Donald Trump’s certain to be a debacle Kennedy Center Honors is on CBS tonight — by coincidence his new mouthpiece network.

Meantime, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, an ex officio trustee of the board, has filed suit against Trump, et al for illegally changing the name to the Trump Kennedy Center.

Trump’s world is burning down around him.

Here’s the press release.

December 22, 2025 – Congresswoman Joyce Beatty today sued President Trump and others to stop the unlawful renaming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the Congresswoman in her capacity as an ex officio trustee of the Kennedy Center by the Washington Litigation Group and Democracy Defenders Action. Congresswoman Beatty participated in the recent Board meeting and alleges she was prevented from speaking when she attempted to object to the renaming. 

“Only Congress has the authority to rename the Kennedy Center. President Trump and his cronies must not be allowed to trample federal law and bypass Congress to feed his ego,” said Congresswoman Beatty. “This entire process has been a complete disgrace to this cherished institution and the people it serves. These unlawful actions must be blocked before any further damage is done.”

Shortly after President Kennedy’s assassination, Congress designated the Kennedy Center as the sole national memorial within the nation’s capital to the late President. The lawsuit argues that because Congress named the center by statute, changing the Kennedy Center’s name requires an act of Congress. 

The suit follows a December 18, 2025 announcement that the Board had voted to rebrand the Kennedy Center with President Trump’s name, and the rapid installation of new exterior signage and related digital branding changes the next day. The lawsuit contends that the Board’s action is legally void and damages the institution’s public mission by turning a national memorial into a political vanity project.

“The President and his sycophants have no lawful authority to rename the Kennedy Center,” said Nathaniel Zelinsky, Senior Counsel at Washington Litigation Group and Amb. Norman Eisen (ret.), founder of Democracy Defenders Action. “Congress named the Kennedy Center as a national memorial to President Kennedy, and only Congress can change that. We are proud to represent Congresswoman Beatty as she defends the integrity of this institution and the separation of powers.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asks the court to declare the Board’s renaming vote unlawful and without legal effect, order removal of the physical and digital signage and branding changes, restore the Kennedy Center’s lawful name, and prevent further attempts to rename it without congressional authorization.

WLG’s lead lawyers on the case are Senior Counsels Nathaniel Zelinsky and Kyle Freeny.  Also on the complaint from WLG are:  Thomas C. Green, John Aldock, Samantha P. Bateman, Elizabeth D. Collery, Mary L. Dohrmann, James I. Pearce, Barry Wm Levine.  WLG is litigating the case alongside Democracy Defenders Action.

DOJ Says New Epstein Files Contain Lies About Trump, “60 Minutes” Video is Everywhere, Whole Trump World is Collapsing in a Heap

Roger Friedman
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DOJ Says New Epstein Files Contain Lies About Trump, “60 Minutes” Video is Everywhere, Whole Trump World is Collapsing in a Heap

The whole Trump enterprise is collapsing in a heap.

It’s beautiful to watch

The censored “60 Minutes” video is now literally everywhere on the internet. I joked that even my cat is watching it. Everyone can see what Trump and his cronies like Stephen Miller did, sending Venezuelan prisoners who hadn’t committed crimes or had trials to a torture chamber in El Salvador.

CBS’s new owners, the Ellisons, and Bari Weiss, didn’t want us to see it. But now it’s going to be required viewing on Christmas weekend.

At the same time, thousands of people are posting the Epstein files without redaction. Many really talented people who know how to do it have made searchable indexes that show Donald Trump mentioned 625 times in the redacted files — after the DOJ’s original version didn’t mention him at all.

A new drop of files has instigated the DOJ to say ‘don’t believe anything bad about Trump’ you may read in the files.

Pam Bondi has some sense of humor! She writes:

“The Department of Justice has officially released nearly 30,000 more pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already. Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DOJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.”

Actually there’s enough cross reference to put Trump in a very bad spot.

And don’t forget Bill Clinton. He’s so sure of his innocence that he’s demanded a full, unredacted release of everything. It was a genius move which should dispel rumors about him.

It just gets better and better!


https://x.com/EdKrassen

CBS Under Bari Weiss, David Ellison Didn’t Want Us to See This “60 Minutes” Report, But Here It Is, and It’s Frightening (WATCH VIDEO)

Roger Friedman
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CBS Under Bari Weiss, David Ellison Didn’t Want Us to See This “60 Minutes” Report, But Here It Is, and It’s Frightening (WATCH VIDEO)

I’m posting two items featuring Sharyn Alfonsi’s censored report.

Again, click here to watch it.

Donald Trump sanctioned the kidnapping and torture of Venezuelan prisoners. He sent them to CECOT, a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Alfonsi notes that Kristi Noem, infamous for shooting a dog she didn’t like, visited the prison and made it seem like El Salvadoran prisoners who’d been there a long time were the unadjudicated Venezuelans. She knew they were being tortured and did nothing about it.

That Bari Weiss, the new editor in chief of “60 Minutes,” killed this story is disgraceful and unacceptable. She clearly did it to please her new bosses at Paramount — David Ellison and his father, Larry — and Donald Trump.

Luckily some intrepid Canadians picked up the broadcast and sent it out to US sites which have now begun distributing it.

There is much to say about this catastrophe. But what about the people who voted for Donald Trump? Do you not believe this? Can anything be any clearer? We’re going to hear accusations against the Trump administration now that must be taken seriously.

Alfonsi was right in her note to the CBS team this morning. Weiss’s cancellation of the story was “political.”

LEAKED “60 Minutes” Censored Story About El Salvador Prison Where Trump Has Sent Venezuelans WATCH HERE

Roger Friedman
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LEAKED “60 Minutes” Censored Story About El Salvador Prison Where Trump Has Sent Venezuelans WATCH HERE

The leaked “60 Minutes” segment from Sharyn Alfonsi was shown in Canada, streaming.

A couple of sites have picked it up.

For now here’s the link where you can find it.

More to come…

Is “Marty Supreme” Ad Too Much? Shows Timothee Chalamet Shouting from Atop Las Vegas Sphere Transformed into Ping Pong Ball

Roger Friedman
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Is “Marty Supreme” Ad Too Much? Shows Timothee Chalamet Shouting from Atop Las Vegas Sphere Transformed into Ping Pong Ball

When is an ad campaign too much?

For “Marty Supreme,” it seems like more is just becoming more.

In a new ad for Cash App, star Timothee Chalamet is shouting from the top of what looks like a roof in Las Vegas. Slowly it’s revealed to be a field of brightly illuminated orange ping pong balls. As the camera pulls back, Chalamet is shown atop the Las Vegas Sphere — now lit up bright orange with the “Marty Supreme” logo.

Chalamet is shouting, fist thrust in the air, “Yeah!”

Can this kind of thing backfire? Possibly. “Marty Supreme” is not an action film. It’s a serious character study. There are funny parts, but it also teeters on the tragic. I can’t imagine director Josh Safdie envisioned his film being promoted this way.

But Chalamet and A24 have turned “Marty Supreme” into a kind of crazy carnival. Everything has been painted orange, merchandise is at a premium, and the exclamation “shwep!” was introduced by Chalamet in a video even though it’s not in the movie.

Once the first flush of fans passes through theaters, and word spreads that a crazy Marty in orange acting outrageously is not what the movie is about may cause disappointment. Already I’m seeing social media posts along that line.

It may be time to rein this all in.

Exclusive: Sources Say Nick Reiner’s Behavior at Conan O’Brien Party Story Was So Bad Guests Now Fear Subpoenas in the Case

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Sources Say Nick Reiner’s Behavior at Conan O’Brien Party Story Was So Bad Guests Now Fear Subpoenas in the Case

Last night’s special about Rob and Michele Reiner was so well produced and moving, it’s a shame it had to air at all.

All the people interviewed were emotional and sincere. Albert Brooks certainly found it the hardest, but he soldiered on as Rob’s closest friend. Kathy Bates and Jerry O’Connell were in tears.

But the horrible reason for the special does not go away. And now I’m hearing more about Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party, the one to which Rob and Michele brought their troubled son, Nick. Hours later, as we know, he brutally killed them.

Sources say Nick’s behavior at the party was not just about going up to guests and asking if they were famous. That’s been reported. I’m told he was actually threatening to them. “He was looking to pick fights, physically,” the source reports.

Nick’s threats are what caused the reported fight between him and his father, and prompted them to leave as soon as the Reiners could get him out of there.

Now, says the source, many of the guests are fearing subpoenas from Nick’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, after the arraignment on January 7th. If there is a trial, which would seem doubtful, many of the stars who had run-ins with Nick, like “SNL” star Bill Hader, could possibly testify.

What a mess…

Barry Manilow’s Doctors Find Spot on Lung, He Says Caught Early: Singer Promises a Month of Recover and “I Love Lucy” Reruns

Roger Friedman
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Barry Manilow’s Doctors Find Spot on Lung, He Says Caught Early: Singer Promises a Month of Recover and “I Love Lucy” Reruns

Barry Manilow — a concert machine — turns out to be human, after all!

He says doctors have found a spot on his lung, but caught it early. He’ll have surgery for lung cancer, and then take off the month of January to recover.

His medicine? “I Love Lucy” reruns.

I have no doubt Barry will be back to work ASAP. Don’t listen to the British tabloids. Post surgery he’ll be singing “Looks Like We Made It” everywhere!

Speedy recovery!

CBS Wakes Up to a House on Fire: Editor in Chief Bari Weiss Tries to Rationalize — But Fails — Decision to Pull “60 Minutes” Broadcast

Roger Friedman
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CBS Wakes Up to a House on Fire: Editor in Chief Bari Weiss Tries to Rationalize — But Fails — Decision to Pull “60 Minutes” Broadcast

CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss has started the day with her house on fire.

Weiss gave a weak explanation this morning to CBS News staff for why she pulled Sharyn Alfonsi’s piece on the El Salvador prison last night — at the last minute.

The piece had been vetted, approved, screened in house five times, and promoted widely. At the moment CBS announced the axing, there were dozens of clips all over the internet promoting the segment. They hadn’t been published in just a few minutes, but days. They were pulled down in minutes, I can tell you that. I watched them in real time disappear.

CBS already had this year’s indignity of firing Stephen Colbert. Then the turmoil of the Ellisons fronting for Donald Trump and buying the network as part of their Paramount deal. Now this — more than incident — which has set social media ablaze with criticism. Weiss’s intention after marching orders is to remake the network as a Fox News Lite.

The Ellisons must not get their hands next on CNN by buying Warner Discovery. That much is now crystal clear.

Here is Weiss’s sad excuse for a rationale. Her main objection? That Alfonsi didn’t get someone like Stephen Miller, Trump’s Goebbels, on camera. Alfonsi says she tried to get comment, but no one answered. But she didn’t need anyone. Her reporting has always been 100% accurate. She has the story.

“The story presented very powerful testimony of abuse at CECOT, but that testimony has already been reported on by places like the [New York] Times.”

Weiss continued, “The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment in this prison. So to run a story on this subject, two months later, we simply need to do more. And this is ’60 Minutes.’ We need to be able to make every effort to get the principles on the record and on camera.”

“The only newsroom I’m interested in running is one in which we are able to have contentious disagreements about the thorniest editorial matters with respect, and, crucially, where we assume the best intent of our colleagues. Anything else is absolutely unacceptable.

“To me, our viewers come first, not a listing schedule or anything else, and that is my North Star, and I hope it’s the north star of every person in this newsroom.”

“60 Minutes” Civil War: Sharyn Alfonsi Responds to CBS Pulling Segment on El Salvador Prison: “Broadcast Being Dismantled”

Roger Friedman
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“60 Minutes” Civil War: Sharyn Alfonsi Responds to CBS Pulling Segment on El Salvador Prison: “Broadcast Being Dismantled”

“60 Minutes” is in crisis now that Bari Weiss is running the News Department for the Ellisons, who are surrendering to Donald Trump.

Now the show’s correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, has written a note to her colleagues and friends to let them know why CBS at the last minute pulled her segment on CECOT, the El Salvador prison where Trump has been sending people to be tortured and killed.

There are few times in the almost 60 year history of “60 Minutes” when a segment was pulled to favor the government or business. But here we are. In the last few weeks we’ve seen the number of political reports that usually take the Trump government to task dwindle to a few.

Here is what Alfonsi wrote. I say this: we are in a desperate situation with the vindictive and fascistic Trump dictating what media can report. The Ellisons should be ashamed, but they’re not.

This will have enormous reverberations at CBS and other networks beginning now. The Ellisons and Weiss will do everything they can to dismantle CBS’s long, revered legacy.

Alfonsi’s note:

News Team,

Thank you for the notes and texts. I apologize for not reaching out earlier.

I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight. We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity.

Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now—after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.

We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story.

If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a “kill switch” for any reporting they find inconvenient.

If the standard for airing a story becomes “the government must agree to be interviewed,” then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast. We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state.

These men risked their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.

CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that “low point.” By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones.

We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of “Gold Standard” reputation for a single week of political quiet.

I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight.

Sharyn

CBS News Pulls “60 Minutes” Story on Trump Sending Venezuelans to El Salvador Prison — and Torturing Them — Promoted, Then Erased (Photo, Teaser)

Roger Friedman
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CBS News Pulls “60 Minutes” Story on Trump Sending Venezuelans to El Salvador Prison — and Torturing Them — Promoted, Then Erased (Photo, Teaser)

MONDAY MORNING UPDATE CLICK HERE

UPDATE: Tonight’s show is just two instead of three segments. One of them was made longer at the last minute. 

No political pieces on tonight’s show.

Tonight, “60 Minutes” was supposed to air a controversial subject covered thoroughly in print this week.

exclusive picture from pulled segment at top

deleted Teaser below

The story was about Trump and something called CECOT — aka Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, the El Salvadoran prison where he was sending Venezuelans.

But now the newly conservative network has pulled the plug, announcing there will be no segment even though it was promoted. CBS says it will air sometime in the future. But it’s very rare for a “60 Minutes” piece to get axed right before showtime. This reeks of new CBS News editor in chief, conservative website owner Bari Weiss, who’s been given control of the department.

Weiss has been widely criticized for her Town Hall with Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, who for an hour this past week promoted her husband’s book on air.

This is all bad news as Weiss has cleared out the “Evening News” to install a puppet in Tony Doukopil. She’s getting ready to oust the anchors from “CBS Mornings.” Her vision of CBS News is a Fox News lite after not being able to hire that network’s Bret Baier.

CBS has erased all links to the segment on all social media. But they left behind this description on Paramount Plus:

Earlier this year, the Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, a country most had no ties to, claiming they were terrorists. This move sparked an ongoing legal battle, and nine months later the U.S. government still has not released the names of all those deported and placed in CECOT, one of El Salvador’s harshest prisons. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi speaks with some of the now released deportees, who describe the brutal and torturous conditions they endured inside CECOT. Oriana Zill de Granados is the producer.

keep refreshing…

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