Barbra Streisand
Role at the time: Singer and actor and 2008 Kennedy Center honoree, in a statement on her official website
Statement summary
In a statement posted on her official website, singer and 2008 Kennedy Center honoree Barbra Streisand said there was "no discussion of closing" the Kennedy Center while Trump’s name was on the building, and expressed indignation at seeing the institution become "the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego." The statement addresses the fight over Trump’s name and the announced closure in general terms.
“And now, a thoroughly defeated Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center is being closed for what the completely stacked board describes as a major renovation. Oddly, when Trump’s name was still on the building, there was no discussion of closing it! You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego.”
Streisand's own statement on her official website (site description "The Official Barbra Streisand Site"), News/Statements section. The page's structured data gives datePublished 2026-09-17T18:11:12+00:00 (2:11 PM ET) and dateModified 18:17:28+00:00; Variety and The Hollywood Reporter both report it was posted Thursday on her official website. Read with curl on 2026-09-19 and compared programmatically with the quotation (non-breaking spaces normalized). The Associated Press version carries the same wording in shorter form.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The case's fixed reference point is President Trump's stated position that the Kennedy Center's closure and renovation depend on recognition for his administration, as expressed in his September 15 Truth Social post and reaffirmed in his September 16 remarks to reporters. Relative to it, Streisand expresses criticism of the closure as bound up with the naming fight: she says there was no discussion of closing the building while Trump’s name was on it and voices indignation at the institution becoming the subject of a struggle over "one man’s name and unchecked ego," though she does not mention the post or the September 16 remarks. The closest competing label is challenges_characterization, because she also disputes the board’s description of the closure as a "major renovation". That loses because the passage goes on to express a clear condemnation of the name-driven fight rather than only disputing a description.