Five months after parting ways with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington National Opera is suing the historic venue, alleging it withheld $17 million in donations from WNO supporters and used those funds to collateralize the center’s credit.
Over 15 years, the Kennedy Center provided managerial duties for the opera, in addition to serving as a venue for it, though the two have remained separate nonprofits.
The partnership ended in January amid friction shortly before President Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center board. The WNO immediately requested that funds be returned and has been trying since then to get the money back, a representative for the WNO said in a statement.
“The funds held by the Kennedy Center represent years of gifts and contributions made by loyal WNO donors who specifically directed their support to benefit WNO and its mission,” lawyers for the opera company argued in a lawsuit filed Thursday. “Those donors trusted that their contributions would support WNO’s artists, its performances, and the education and community programs that WNO has carried out for decades.”
Despite being managed by the Kennedy Center, the funds for the WNO always belonged to the opera company, the lawsuit claims. An agreement between the two parties in 2024 stipulated that the Kennedy Center was required to allocate all WNO donations strictly to its financial accounts and that services from the Kennedy Center were provided to the opera company at no cost.
But about a year ago the performing arts center allegedly ceased key obligations under its contract, including marketing, fundraising, administrative support and “timely reporting” on the WNO’s funds.
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“The affiliation agreement is clear that the funds belong to WNO and that the Kennedy Center is required to return them,” the suit added.
Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, argued in an email to The Banner that the opera company had long “financially burdened” the Kennedy Center, alleging a $72 million deficit in the last 15 years.
“The Center has acted transparently and in the best interests of the public throughout this process,” Daravi said in a statement. “This lawsuit is meritless, and we plan to pursue a countersuit to defend the institution.”
The Kennedy Center and WNO are classified as nonprofits that have historically gotten much of their revenue from donations, per the organizations’ tax filings.
Trump last year replaced Kennedy Center board members with political allies, who elected him chairman.
Many performers and audience members have boycotted the venue since Trump took control and directed his appointed board to rename it the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
A federal judge ruled last month that Trump’s name was illegally added and prohibited the Trump administration from closing it for two years for major renovations.
The opera company’s lawsuit arrived a day before the Kennedy Center was due to remove all mention of Trump’s name from its branding, which it has done, and from the front facade of the building — which crews seemed primed to do after setting up scaffolding Friday afternoon.
The Department of Justice filed an appeal Thursday to challenge the judge’s ruling.
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