Barbra Streisand blames Trump’s ‘unchecked ego’ for Kennedy Center chaos: ‘Painful to witness’

Barbra Streisand is condemning Donald Trump’s battle over the Kennedy Center’s name as the dispute has threatened the future of the iconic art institution.

“In 2008, I was deeply honored to be included in the 31st annual class of Kennedy Center Honorees,” the legendary singer, 84, said in a message on her website Thursday. “For me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy.”

She continued: “That is why what is happening to the Kennedy Center is so galling and painful to witness.”

Streisand’s statement came hours after a district judge ordered that the Kennedy Center has to give at least 30 days’ notice before making any physical changes to the Kennedy Center — including demolishing it.

The ruling provides a brief cushion in the case that Trump makes good on his threat that the arts institution could “end up being ripped down” without the president’s support.

Trump has been locked in a legal battle to rename the building the “Trump-Kennedy Center” for nearly a year.

After appointing himself the board chair last year, he promptly announced on Truth Social that the building would close “immediately” and that he would not start his multi-million dollar renovation project until his name was on the center. His name was then put on the building, and a judge ordered to have it removed.

“Yet the fight continued,” Streisand continued on her website. “After his name was removed, a humiliated Trump ordered a large tarp placed over the façade, where it remains today. The Trump-aligned board then relentlessly lobbied again to add his name, prompting another federal ruling that blocked their effort.

“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,” she continued. “Oddly, when Trump’s name was still on the building, there was no discussion of closing it!”

Streisand added: “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.”

The multi-hyphenate star then brought up the fact that John F. Kennedy founded the Kennedy Center in 1971 as “a living place where artists could challenge, inspire, provoke, and bring Americans together through the transformative power of the arts.”

“The Kennedy Center was meant to pay tribute to a beloved president, and to advance his philosophy that artistic achievement was proof of a free society. He believed that when the creative impulse cannot flourish freely, a society loses its vitality,” she wrote.

Streisand concluded the message by reminding Americans to vote in the upcoming midterm elections in November.

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