Washington National Opera sues Kennedy Center for $17M

musicJun 12, 2026262,046

The Washington National Opera filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking more than $17 million from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. WNO says the Kennedy Center refused to return donor gifts, bequests, and the opera’s endowment funds after the organizations split earlier this year. The complaint says the center used WNO’s endowment funds as collateral for a credit line and withheld donor contact information. A court ruling could force the return of donated funds, affect WNO’s financial stability, and deepen the Kennedy Center’s fiscal and legal challenges.

Kyle Griffin

@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

The Washington National Opera, which recently severed its longstanding relationship with The Kennedy Center, has filed a lawsuit that demands more than $17 million from the center that the opera company estimates it's owed.

58445d ago

WUZZUPG💜🦋8

Should sue the orange felon and the Board 😡 The money should not come from the people’s hard earned taxes.

anonamouspixie5

The Washington National Opera Center should be sueing the Trump Regime and his appointees that he installed there, not the Kennedy Center..

Sue Romulus

@sueromulus.bsky.social

The woman who won the lawsuit to protect the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio). PLEASE give credit where it's due. #BlackExcellence #KennedyCenter

41444d ago

Julie Subrin4

Is that why they raided an OH Dem non-profit organizing around gotv? Feels related.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

The grift here is astounding. The "Trump Kennedy Center" people tried to outright STEAL more than half of a $300,000 bequest to the Washington National Opera made in a donor's will — even though the funds were intended to go solely to WNO.

64. With the status of WNO’s funds in limbo, donors have also been confused as to the proper destination of funds intended for WNO after termination. For instance, last year a court resolved an ambiguity in one donor’s estate documents, which contained an apparent misnomer as to the intended beneficiary, by determining that the donor intended her substantial gift— approximately $300,000—to benefit WNO. However, the court directed that the funds be paid to the Kennedy Center for the benefit of WNO. When news broke that WNO and the Kennedy Center would part ways, the estate inquired whether the Kennedy Center should still receive the bequest. Even after the parties terminated the 2024 Agreement and their separation became public, the Kennedy Center insisted that the funds should be sent to it, not to WNO. And later, when WNO demanded return of the $300,000 gift, the Kennedy Center refused and instead proposed that it be split in half with WNO, after deducting the Kennedy Center’s legal fees from the gift. This is emblematic of the Kennedy Center’s willingness to disregard donors’ intentions and attempt to keep for itself funds that were plainly intended for and belong to WNO. These events have sown confusion among donors and threaten to delay or divert contributions intended for WNO unless WNO regains control over its funds.

30445d ago

Literal Ham45

stealing from a dead person sounds about right for Trump

KittyWampus5

I don't think the word 'grift' is appropriate. In the context of this story, Trump or his Administration in general. Grift has 'small-time' baked into its meaning.

❄️ ABOLISH ICE3

Motion to use “corruption” instead of grift when talking about anyone connected to Trump or the Admin.

Marie 🇨🇦 🐸

@pawbaby2.bsky.social

Trump took over the Kennedy Center and turned it into a mess. Now the Washington National Opera wants $17M back and a judge ordered his name removed. Everything he touches ends up in court. #USDemocracy #Pinks apple.news/AbcQduRllTde...

19545d ago

Jeffrey Winfield 💙 🌈 🫂 🫘 🏳️‍🌈5

www.youtube.com/live/aAhm880... 😍😍 Today is the court-ordered deadline to remove President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center. ❤️❤️

Sandy3

Agree, make him personally pay for all the restoration to how it was including the facade.

Mike D3

Reposting Everything Trump touches turns to crap. Our White House will never be the same as he’s busy trying to turn the east wing into some bizarre tsarist ballroom.

ReverendTimeTraveler2

The wealthy like to put their name on other people's work. This includes Elon. They don't earn it. They steal it

CarlPorterRoberts2

Ya just gotta say no right off the top and lawsuit the hell out of him before he gets rollin'.

marc 🇪🇺2

Hopefully he will himself end up in a court too.

Helen Kennedy

@helenkennedy.com

The Washington National Opera claims that under Trump and Grenell, the Trump-Kennedy Center stole $17 million in donations and bequests made to the opera company.

11545d ago

Laura Cucak3

That’s what it is all about. I don’t think we will ever be able to account for all the money this corrupt administration stole from all of us.

tejanarusa3

No doubt. It's what all the grifters working for the Grifter-in-Chief are all about. I hope the lawsuit can make the thieves disgorge the money.

🌈2

No surprise. This is just the tip of the grift iceberg.

Julie2

I know it’s off the table but my god I wish the greedy grifter in chief could be sued civilly for his damage.

PBS News

@pbsnews.org

"If all of us as artists and as people working in arts organizations do not stand up to the injustices that are around us, then we are not doing our jobs," Francesca Zambello, artistic director of the Washington National Opera, told us last month. https://to.pbs.org/4bXWtwd

12845d ago

Amee Vanderpool

@girlsreallyrule.bsky.social

Following a move by the Kennedy Center Board to seek an injunction to keep Trump’s name on the building, the Washington National Opera (WNO) filed a lawsuit, alleging the Kennedy Center failed to return more than $17 million in donations. More: substack.com/@shero/note/...

6545d ago

CarrieT 🗽 ⚖️ 🇺🇸 🐶 📚 🛩 🌏 🐘 🗳 ⛩️ 😆 🎶 🪙 🤷‍♀️5

One vocation that has boomed under this regime is lawyering.

Martin4

There is something weird about the activity at the arts centre today. There are at least 15 workers involved in erecting scaffolding to remove 18 letters on the wall that took 4 guys and a couple of cherry pickers less than a day to install.🤔

Minutello2

So, no matter what the public wants, they're fighting to keep his stinking name up there. Unbelievable!

Just Security

@justsecurity.org

Today’s Litigation Tracker updates: -Judge blocks Anti-Weaponization fund, orders Blanche & Bessent to declare they will take no further action -Judge declines to block UFC events at WH, says Plaintiffs lack standing -Washington National Opera sues Kennedy Center for $17m in allegedly-owed funds

3845d ago

Raw Story

@rawstory.com

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is facing another catastrophic financial blow after the Washington National Opera filed a $17 million lawsuit against the troubled institution for refusing to release funds the company claims belong to them.

4345d ago

barbisblue

@barbisblue.bsky.social

The Washington National Opera argues in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that the Kennedy Center wrongfully withheld over $17 million in gifts and donations owed to the opera company.

2744d ago

Lawrence

@ldog562.bsky.social

Kennedy Center sued by National Opera over $17M of withheld funds. www.rawstory.com/financially-...

2745d ago

Lauren Ashley Davis

@laurenmeidasa.bsky.social

The Washington National Opera (WNO) filed a lawsuit Thursday, alleging that the Kennedy Center failed to return more than $17 million in donations made to the organization after its split from the venue earlier this year. thehill.com/regulation/c...

1945d ago

Tom Pepinsky

@tompepinsky.com

Everyone has something that hits them right in the feels. The Washington National Opera might not be the biggest player, or the most urgent case, but holy hell. Just straight garbage out of this administration.

1745d ago

Silvija (still) stands with Ukraine

@svecrumba.bsky.social

Washington National Opera sues to force Kennedy Center to turn over $17 million in gifts. Too much detail in article to just snapshot a portion, so gift article, no paywall. wapo.st/4epXYVj

845d ago

pissed-off-g.bsky.social

@pissed-off-g.bsky.social

The Washington National Opera has officially filed a massive $17 million lawsuit against the Kennedy Center, accusing leadership of holding their donor gifts and endowment funds hostage. Even worse? Internal emails reveal the center’s Trump-appointed CFO allegedly... www.rawstory.com/financially-...

845d ago

3 sources

thehill.comWashington National Opera sues, says Kennedy Center owes it $17M nytimes.comOpera Company Sues to Collect $17 Million From the Kennedy Center to.pbs.orgWashington National Opera finds new stage after split with Kennedy Center

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Washington National Opera sues Kennedy Center for $17M

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