Billy Crystal: Trump’s Kennedy Center moves ‘so selfish and so petty’

Billy Crystal — the recipient of two of the Kennedy Center’s most prestigious awards — says what’s happening at the Washington performing arts institution amid President Trump’s legal battle “really hurts.”

“I’m one of the few who has been awarded the Mark Twain Prize and the Kennedy Honor with an elite group of people that I don’t feel I belong with, but it’s astounding,” Crystal said in an interview on MS NOW’s “Connect with Jacob Soboroff” on Saturday. “And so my affection for it and my respect for it is enormous.”

Crystal received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2007 and was among the Kennedy Center honorees in 2023.

“I remember sitting next to Queen Latifah — next to the president and the first lady — and looking at the names of the prior winners that we were now a part of, and it was astounding,” the “When Harry Met Sally” star recalled, before criticizing Trump without mentioning him by name.

“So to see it being defiled, and being just thrown around like a commodity, as, ‘It’s mine, it’s mine,’ I just don’t get that. And it really hurts to see that happen,” Crystal, 78, said.

Asked by Soboroff for his reaction when Trump “wanted to put his name on there,” Crystal replied, shaking his head, “I just went, ‘No.'”

“It’s just so selfish and just so petty,” said Crystal, who’s performing on Broadway in his one-man show, “860.”

The comedic actor’s comments come after the president declined in recent weeks to commit to not demolishing the Kennedy Center as the legal fight over its name and renovation plays out.

Last year, Trump named himself the chair of the Kennedy Center’s board, firing several members and installing a handpicked slate of administration officials and allies.

That November, the board voted to add the president’s name to the facade of the building. The move was later reversed by a federal judge. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio board member, has since led a legal challenge over the Kennedy Center changes.

The Kennedy Center is closed temporarily for renovations, as officials say the building is in serious disrepair and unsafe for visitors.

This year’s 49th annual Kennedy Center Honors, which typically take place in December, will be held at Washington’s Capital One Arena.