"After the 2024 honors received 4.1 million viewers, Nielsen data for this year's broadcast showed a precipitous drop, with only 3.01 million viewers tuning in - a massive 26% year-over-year decline. The Kennedy Center Honors were held on December 7th to celebrate Trump's hand-picked honorees: KISS, Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford. After skipping the event entirely the last time he was in office, the Former Reality TV Star-in-Chief had his narcissistic hands all up in this year's ceremony, serving as emcee for the evening."
""At the request of the Board, and just about everybody else in America, I am hosting the event," he posted on Truth Social before the TV broadcast. CBS cut his 12-minute opening remarks to just two. Trump had even kinder dumber words for some of the performers: "They probably don't like me very much. But all I know is they're big, right? We want bigness. We don't care if they like Trump - we want bigness, right?""
CBS' broadcast of the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors drew 3.01 million viewers, a 26% decline from 4.1 million in 2024. The ceremony, held December 7, honored KISS, Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford. Former President Donald Trump served as host and emcee after previously skipping the event. CBS reduced his planned 12-minute opening to a two-minute segment. Ticket sales reportedly fell by about 40% and total revenue by about 50% after Trump became Kennedy Center Board Chair. The special aired December 23 and followed a controversial renaming of the Center by its board.
Read at Consequence
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