Garcia, Mamet, and Anka Headline 2026 Kennedy Center Honors
The ceremony moves to Capital One Arena for the first time as the original building remains closed during a renovation dispute with the White House.
By Sakura McCarthy ·
For the first time in 49 years, the Kennedy Center Honors will not be held inside the Kennedy Center. The Dec. 7 ceremony is set to take place at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., a direct result of the flagship venue’s current closure. The move forces the event out of the building it is named for and into a nearby sports arena.
The honorees for the 2026 class include Oscar-nominated actor Andy Garcia, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet, and singer Paul Anka. The list also features country musician Barbara Mandrell and music producer David Foster, who has collaborated with Céline Dion and Whitney Houston. In a press release, President Donald Trump called the group “amazing artists whose lifelong work has shaped American culture and inspired generations of audiences.”
The selection of these artists has drawn attention to their public relationships with the president. Mamet, known for “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “American Buffalo,” has praised Trump in interviews and defended the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Anka, who wrote reworked lyrics for Trump’s version of “My Way” last year, described the president as “an old friend of mine for 50 years” in a 2016 interview with TMZ.
The venue change stems from a dispute that began last year when Trump took over the center and attempted to rebrand it as the Trump-Kennedy Center. The building, constructed in 1971 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, is currently shut down for renovations that Trump announced in February. A federal judge ruled in May that the addition of Trump’s name to the building was illegal and lacked congressional approval.
Congress has secured $257 million for the center’s upkeep, but Trump told Time last month that he would not allow the renovations to start unless his name appears on the building again. The original plan called for a two-year closure for the extensive work.
The ceremony will mark a shift in the event's logistics and potentially its tone. Last year’s broadcast on CBS saw all-time low ratings, despite featuring Sylvester Stallone and Gloria Gaynor as honorees with Trump hosting. This year, the specific extent of Trump’s involvement in the Capital One Arena production remains undefined.
Source: HuffPost
