Eighty-four years old, with four decades of awards on the mantel, EGOT winner Barbra Streisand is still stepping into fights she believes are worth it.
She posted on Thursday and spoke directly about what she’s been watching. She called the fight over the Kennedy Center’s future “galling and painful to witness,” and described it as centering on “one man’s name and unchecked ego.”
That fight has been building for months.
Trump’s own board voted in December to rename the venue the “Trump Kennedy Center.” He had already been using that name in public before the vote, which made his later reaction, describing himself as “surprised” and “honored,” feel out of step with how events actually unfolded.
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The courts stepped in not long after. A federal judge blocked the renaming, and workers physically removed “Donald J. Trump” from the building’s facade. Reports say a tarp still covers the spot where the name once sat.
Even that did not end it. The board tried again, was blocked again, and the center is now closed entirely under the label of renovations. Streisand pointed to that decision as part of a larger issue, describing the board as “the completely stacked board,” and noting that closure was never on the table when his name was attached.
Her connection to the Kennedy Center goes back years, long before the current dispute. In 2008, she was named a Kennedy Center Honoree, an experience she has said carried deeper meaning, calling it “a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy.”
She also reminded people why the building carries Kennedy’s name in the first place. He was, in her words, “a true champion of the arts,” and naming the center after him was meant to reflect that legacy.
Others have stepped in as well. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the board “has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center” without Congress, since the name is set by law.
Thank you @RepBeatty for your incredible leadership in forcefully pushing back against the President’s reckless vanity project at the Kennedy Center.
If Donald Trump spent half as much time trying to lower the cost of living as he does plotting to demolish national treasures, our economy would not be failing.
These extremists are completely unhinged.
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) September 17, 2026
Kennedy’s niece, Maria Shriver, took a stronger tone earlier in the summer, calling the effort “so ridiculous, so petty, so small minded.”
This is insane. It makes my blood boil. It’s so ridiculous, so petty, so small minded. Truly, what is this about? It’s always about something. ‘Let’s get rid of the Rose Garden. Let’s rename the Kennedy Center.’ What’s next?
— Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) July 28, 2025
Streisand closed by returning to what the center was meant to be. She described it as “a living place where artists could challenge, inspire, provoke, and bring Americans together,” then urged voters to keep that vision in mind heading into November.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
