Broadway star Patti LuPone urges resistance to Trump Kennedy Center changes
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Broadway star Patti LuPone criticized President Donald Trump’s proposed renovation plans for the Trump-Kennedy Center. LuPone called Trump a “buffoon” during his concert in New York and called for resistance to the proposed changes.
“It’s time for us to stand up and speak,” LuPone said Monday at Carnegie Hall, Deadline reported.
On Sunday, Trump announced plans to close the venue for two years for renovations. LuPone called on the public to use social media to protest the changes, saying Trump “can’t touch the Kennedy Center.”
TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER HONORS RENOVATION OFFERS LINE-UP OF STARS, NEW MEDALLION AND HISTORIC ACCOMMODATION ROLE
Trump said the renovations would focus on infrastructure upgrades, including heating, ventilation and elevators, and insisted the building would not be demolished.
Patti LuPone speaks onstage at the Emmy FYC screening of Marvel Television’s “Agatha All Along” at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles, California on April 19, 2025. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
“I will use steel. So we use structure,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We use some of the marble, and some of the marble falls off, but when it’s opened it will be brand new and really beautiful.”
FROM THE OVAL OFFICE TO THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER, THE GILDED MAKEOVER IS EXPANDING
Trump took a direct role in Washington after a new Kennedy Center board elected him president. In December 2025, the center’s board of directors voted to add Trump’s name to the building, renaming it the Trump-Kennedy Center.
LuPone said she was “crazy” about the proposed changes and urged protesters to “keep the building standing.” Her comments follow remarks made last year to New Yorker writer Michael Schulman in which she said the center under Trump “should explode.”
Patti LuPone attends the New York screening of “Another Simple Favor” at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on April 27, 2025. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
The White House provided the following statement when contacted by Fox News Digital for comment:
“While Democrats neglected the Trump-Kennedy Center for years, President Trump immediately stepped in to save and revitalize the institution,” the White House deputy press secretary said. » Liz Huston said. “President Trump is taking decisive action to modernize the facility, bring it fully into compliance with all construction standards, and optimize visitor flow for a world-class experience. Under President Trump’s leadership, the Trump-Kennedy Center will be the finest performing arts facility in the world and everyone will be able to enjoy the success, beauty and grandeur for years to come.
A spokesperson for the Trump Kennedy Center rejected LuPone’s criticism, saying the institution was undergoing long-needed repairs.
“For decades, America’s cultural center deteriorated while leftists in the entertainment industry sat idly by and did nothing to save it. Today, the president of the Trump-Kennedy Center is revitalizing the institution with a desperately needed, fully funded renovation while retaining the building’s cultural significance,” Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations for the Trump Kennedy Center, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
SYLVESTER STALLONE AND GEORGE STRAIT CHIEF OF THE KENNEDY CENTER HONOR TRUMP ON THE RED CARPET
“As Ms. LuPone noted, ‘art is the soul of the nation,’ and this historic effort of renewal and beautification will give all Americans a place to come together and celebrate artistic excellence that uplifts and unites, rather than divides,” she added.
LuPone isn’t the only artist to voice opposition to changes at the center during Trump’s current term. Several artists and productions canceled their appearances there, including banjo player Béla Fleck, composer Philip Glass, comedian Issa Rae and the musical “Hamilton.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell also defended the planned updates, writing on X: “I am grateful for President Trump’s visionary leadership. I am also grateful to Congress for appropriating a historic $257 million to finally address decades of deferred maintenance and repairs at the Trump Kennedy Center.
He added that the structure “desperately needs this renovation” and that a temporary closure will help make the renovations more complete.
