One of the best traditions that we have as Americans has been ruined by Donald Trump and his greed. I am, of course, referring to the Kennedy Center Honors. Now, with Trump in charge of it, he’s certainly making his taste in entertainment known.
Trump claims he had 98% of a say in who was chosen for the Kennedy Center Honors this time around and while the lifetime achievement was once sought after, there is one actor who had a less than thrilled response to the news: Tom Cruise. Cruise, who is known for his work in franchises like Mission: Impossible and Top Gun is one of our last living movie stars but that doesn’t mean he wants the honor.
According to The Daily Beast, Trump wanted to extend the “honor” to Cruise whose team said that he had a “scheduling conflict” and would not accept it. Even if he was filming a movie or working on something, people can adjust their schedules to attend something if need be so it is kind of funny that this was his team’s response to the “honor.”
The honorees this year include George Strait, KISS, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford. Cruise would have been the bigger profile among them. And look, maybe it was really a scheduling conflict that is keeping Cruise away from the Kennedy Center this year. But I do think it is hilarious to think that they couldn’t make it work for him to have one day off.
The entire situation with Trump and the Kennedy Center is messed up and part of his recent move to control history and how we tell it, like his involvement with the Smithsonian. So none of this is great to begin with. And I do also think that the Phantom of the Opera getting a Kennedy Centers Honor is certainly a choice.
Whatever happens with Trump’s Kennedy Center, I’m kind of glad that Cruise won’t be involved.
(featured image: Paramount Pictures)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
