A cultural clash erupted this weekend after journalist Katie Couric denounced the Kennedy Center as a “disgrace” under President Donald Trump’s new leadership, prompting a sharp rebuttal from the institution’s president.
Couric, the former CBS Evening News anchor, reacted on Instagram to a Kennedy Center post showcasing attendees at an opera event.
“This is so sad. I grew up going to the Kennedy Center, which was about 20 minutes from our house in Arlington,” Couric commented. “What they’ve done to it is a disgrace.”
Her remarks targeted Trump’s controversial takeover of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which he assumed control over earlier this year after winning reelection. Trump installed himself as chairman and replaced 14 members of the board, promising to end what he called “woke programming.”
Richard Grenell, Trump’s special envoy and now president of the Kennedy Center, clapped back directly in the comments.
The @kencen team posted a group picture at the Opera in the Outfield event and @katiecouric attacked us.
So I responded to Katie. pic.twitter.com/IPvLtWgI6s
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) August 24, 2025
“We didn’t cancel a single show. Your team couldn’t perform for Republicans. They cancelled,” Grenell wrote. “It is this exact intolerance that we fight against. Everyone is welcome to the Kennedy Center … even you!”
Grenell has defended the reorganization as both ideological and financial. He claimed the previous leadership left the institution with “zero cash on hand” and “crisis-level deferred maintenance,” forcing his team to rebuild the center’s fiscal health while reshaping its cultural direction.
Trump recently unveiled this year’s Kennedy Center honorees, a lineup that included actor Sylvester Stallone, rock legends KISS, country star George Strait, and disco icon Gloria Gaynor.
The new Kennedy Center season reflects his vision, featuring Broadway imports such as The Outsiders, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and Back to the Future: The Musical, alongside family-friendly programming like Bluey’s Big Play and Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE.
Officials say the strategy is working. Nearly all five weeks of Les Misérables were sold out, and donor interest is reportedly rebounding.
Couric, a longtime Washington-area resident frequently attending the Kennedy Center Honors, amplified her criticism through her media company’s social channels, but Trump supporters quickly rallied online.
One user cheered Grenell’s retort: “Sass and class! Get ’em, Ric!”
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Another mocked Couric, writing, “Katie who?” with another replying: “You remember her, she worked alongside that perverted sicko Matt Lauer for years and never said a word.”
The exchange highlights a moment when the premier cultural institution is pivoting back toward popular entertainment under Trump’s vision to “make the Kennedy Center great again.”