Performing Arts

Kennedy Center plans Ticketmaster switch, raising conflict of interest concerns November 12, 20265:00 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition

Anastasia Tsioulcas

Kennedy Center plans Ticketmaster switch, raising conflict of interest concerns

Audio will be available later today.

Richard Grenell attends the opening night of Les Misérables at The Kennedy Center on June 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Shannon Finney/Getty Images hide caption

Shannon Finney/Getty Images

Since 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors has been a fixture on the Washington, D.C., social calendar. Attendees at the annual December gala would be wined, dined and have an up-close glimpse of the honorees, who over the years included Fred Astaire, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Crystal and Queen Latifah. Tickets were a hot item with high-level donors getting first dibs, which would have gone out in early summer.