Kennedy Center Honors Ratings Plummet After Trump Takeover

Ratings for the Kennedy Center Honors took a pointy decline this yr. The poor turnout comes shortly after Donald Trump added his identify to the historic forum.

This yr’s Kennedy Center Honors, hosted by Trump, averaged 3.01 million viewers, according to a report from Nielsen Live + Same Day Panel + Big Data. That represents a 25% dip from last yr’s numbers. The 2024 present hit a file low of 4.1 million viewers after reaching 4.5 million viewers the yr before.

The Kennedy Center didn’t instantly reply to Variety’s request for remark.

Trump is the first sitting president to host the Kennedy Center Honors, which rejoice “individuals whose unique contributions have shaped our world,” according to the group’s web site. This yr’s honorees had been George Strait, Sylvester Stallone, KISS, Michael Crawford and Gloria Gaynor.

On Dec. 6, the day before the event, Trump told reporters at the White House, “It’s going to be something that I believe, and I’m going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done and they’ve gotten some pretty good ratings, but there’s nothing like what’s going to happen tomorrow night.”

Trump has set his sights on remaking the Kennedy Center in his picture during his second time period, even going as far as to rename the venue “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” in mid December. The identify change has been met with vital blowback, and a number of other scheduled acts have canceled their upcoming performances as a result.