Beatty Calls Kennedy Center Plan A 'Lifeless Husk'
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- Kennedy Center executive director Matt Floca listed three options for the board's mid-July meeting: full closure with no public programming, partial closure with limited programming in unaffected spaces, or phased closures maintaining more onsite programming
- Beatty's attorneys said the filing 'confirms that they plan to turn the Kennedy Center into a lifeless husk,' asserting management has taken 'no affirmative steps related to programming or staffing'
- The tarp and scaffolding erected to shield the removal of Trump's name from the building remain in place, which Beatty's lawyers described as 'a transparent effort to frustrate a return to the status quo that existed prior to the Board's unlawful vote'
- Beatty's legal team called the tarp's continued presence a 'petty act of defiance' and 'clear breach of fiduciary duty,' noting the scaffolding sits 'approximately twenty feet below the soffits' and disputing management's claim it addresses maintenance needs
- The original lawsuit challenged both the closure and the board's December 18, 2025 vote to rename the Kennedy Center after Trump, with Beatty serving as an ex officio board member
- Kennedy Center management indicated the building will remain open with 'continued public access' to the John F. Kennedy exhibit during the renovation deliberation period
Why it matters: The filing makes explicit that for the duration of a renovation review stretching into mid-July, the Kennedy Center will operate without new programming — a blackout for one of the country's marquee performing arts venues. Beatty's lawyers are also building a record that the tarp's continued presence is deliberate defiance, not maintenance, which strengthens their argument that the board's December 18, 2025 rename vote should be reversed and could expose the board to fiduciary liability.
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