New York — Actors’ Equity Association, the national labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, counts the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as a longtime and regular employer of its members. Following a tumultuous year at the Kennedy Center, the new board of trustees installed by President Donald Trump improperly voted yesterday to rename the Center after Trump, despite that power resting with Congress and not the board.

Al Vincent, Jr., the executive director for Actors’ Equity Association, offered the following statement:

"The Kennedy Center was initially designated, as President Lyndon Johnson put it, to be 'a national project and a national possession,' intended to 'symbolize our belief that the world of creation and thought are at the core of all civilization.' It was named in honor of President Kennedy in the aftermath of his death, commemorating a president who championed the rights of the worker and the value of the artist.

"The new board of this institution, which has sought to stifle free and open expression in the arts, is preoccupied with the performing arts center's name rather than its mission.

"This is a lawless move, and we ask Congress to affirm the Kennedy Center’s proper name. And on behalf of our members who want to continue safely earning a living there, we ask that the board of the Kennedy Center instead focuses on addressing its recent decline in ticket sales and loss in audiences."

ACTORS' EQUITY ASSOCIATION, founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers. Equity endeavors to advance the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits (health and pension included). Member: AFL-CIO, FIA. www.actorsequity.org #EquityWorks

December 19, 2025

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