Donald Trump to celebrate Kiss, Sylvester Stallone, and George Strait at Kennedy Centre Honors
President Donald Trump is continuing his pursuit of moulding the creative industries in the USA to his taste, as he announced the latest nominees for the Kennedy Centre Honors.
On August 13th, Trump announced the nominees for the 2025 Kennedy Centre Honors after taking over as chairman of the board. Alongside rock band Kiss, Sylvester Stallone, and musician George Strait, Trump gave the nod to British actor and comedian Michael Crawford and singer Gloria Gaynor.
Trump had previously claimed on Truth Social, “Tremendous work is being done, and money being spent, on bringing [the Kennedy Center] back to the absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment. It had fallen on hard times, physically, BUT WILL SOON BE MAKING A MAJOR COMEBACK!!!”
He also included a purposeful mistake in his post, writing, “GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS.”
Trump appears to have chosen at least a few pro-Trump candidates. In the case of Rocky star Sylvester Stallone, Trump had previously deemed him a “special envoy” ahead of his inauguration.
However, the story differs for the rock band Kiss. In 2017, Gene Simmons confirmed that KISS was invited to perform at Trump’s first inauguration but turned it down because it was “not a good idea.”
Nonetheless, bassist and co-lead singer Simmons also deemed Trump “good for the political system,” back in 2016, though he wouldn’t disclose who exactly he was voting for. Simmons stated, “He has said some very vile, unkind things. But don’t kid yourself. He speaks off the cuff, and what you see is what you get. And he’ll double down. If you ask him about building a wall [between the U.S. and Mexico] he’ll say, ‘Fuck you, I’m going to make it ten feet higher, just because you asked me.’ He’s not there to be your friend.”
Trump, who also came from show business and once hosted his own reality show, said, “I shouldn’t make this political. Because they made the Academy Awards political and they went down the tubes. So they’ll say, ‘Trump made it political.’ But I think if we make it our kind of political we’ll go up, OK? Let’s see if I’m right about that.”
Trump will consequently host the show. The annual ceremony traditionally takes place in December in Washington, DC, and usually airs on CBS.
Director Francis Ford Coppola, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt were among previous recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2024.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.