Barbra Streisand criticized President Donald Trump‘s “unchecked ego” amid the ongoing debacle surrounding the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Trump has spent a significant time during his second term attempting to remake Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center — a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy — in his own image. Earlier this week, the theater’s Trump-appointed board voted to close down the iconic landmark after a federal judge blocked the board from adding Trump’s name to the building’s facade.
The board claimed the the temporary closure was because the center is headed for bankruptcy and won’t have the funds to pay its staff. Trump also threatened to nix a planned $257 million renovation if his name wasn’t placed on the building.
Streisand, a Kennedy Center honoree, called the battle over the center “galling and painful to witness.”
“The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has stood as one of America’s great cultural venues. Many of the world’s most accomplished actors, musicians, singers and dancers have graced its stages,” wrote the singer on her website, recalling her own recognition as an honoree in 2008. “For me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy.”
Streisand said that after a judge ordered his name be removed, a “humiliated Trump ordered a large tarp placed over the façade, where it remains today.” She continued, “And now, a thoroughly defeated Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center is being closed for what the completely stacked board describes as a major renovation.”
Streisand expressed her “indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego” and emphasized the Kennedy Center purpose: “to pay tribute to a beloved president, and to advance his philosophy that artistic achievement was proof of a free society.” She added, “[Kennedy] believed that when the creative impulse cannot flourish freely, a society loses its vitality.”
The icon ended her message by urging Americans to “exercise their right to vote in the upcoming midterm elections!”
The turmoil over the center is far from over. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the board to provide 30 days’ notice prior to making any major physical changes to the historical institution — which include Trump’s threats to tear down the center if his name does not appear on its main building.
