Washington, DC, USA - On December 23, the U.S. won’t just be watching another nostalgic tribute show. It will be watching an American institution reinvent itself in real time.
The Kennedy Center Honors, long known as Washington’s gentlest, most ceremonious cultural event, will air its 2025 broadcast on CBS and Paramount+—but this time with a twist no one saw coming even a few years ago:
Not attending.
Not waving from the balcony.
Hosting.
And because the ceremony was pre-taped on December 7, the broadcast we’re about to see is not a live gamble—it’s a polished, edited, intentionally crafted piece of television that blends politics, nostalgia, entertainment, and cultural power into one very unusual moment.
This is more than a TV special.
It’s a shift in how cultural authority works in the United States.
And yes—it will absolutely be fun to watch.
Here’s why.
The 2025 honorees are not niche or esoteric. They’re cultural anchors:
Even without the politics, this lineup alone would make for classic holiday-season TV:
This is the kind of show where parents know the stars, grandparents know the stars, and the kids know the music from TikTok remixes.
Add the Trump wildcard, and suddenly the stage feels electric.
This is the part that makes the broadcast historically interesting.
Traditionally, the Honors were neutral ground. Presidents attended quietly. The night was above politics. It was polite. Safe. A bit sedate.
Trump flipped the rules:
This is not a cameo.
It’s not a cutaway shot.
It’s not a polite handshake moment.
It’s a president turning a prestige gala into event television, and because the show is pre-taped, we’ll be seeing the most polished, confident version of that moment.
Regardless of how anyone feels about Trump politically, this is objectively new territory. American culture hasn’t seen something like this before.
This is where it gets interesting—and where the broadcast becomes a true shared moment.
Because they want to see Trump in a showman role
—something he excels at.
Because they want to see what he says, how he behaves, and how the room handles it.
Because this is simply
unusual television
and people love unusual television.
Because the tribute performances and career retrospectives are always top-tier.
Because these are artists who dominated five different cultural eras.
The important part is this:
People who would never watch the Oscars, Emmys, or Tonys anymore will watch this.
That alone gives it a cultural footprint those shows haven’t earned in years.
Trump has been taking public shots at late-night hosts—especially Jimmy Kimmel—saying things like:
“If I can’t get higher ratings than that guy, then I shouldn’t be president.”
That’s not just banter.
It’s strategy.
Trump is:
If this broadcast outperforms other award shows—which is very possible—Trump can claim something no politician has claimed before:
“I beat Hollywood on its own turf.”
You don’t have to support him to admit:
That’s an extraordinary storyline.
Live award shows have become famous for:
The Kennedy Center Honors avoids all of that because:
No filler.
No dead air.
No slow patches.
No weird ad-libs.
Just the strongest moments—stitched together into a prestige TV special with momentum.
It’s almost like having a live event…
with the safety net of a Netflix documentary.
That means December 23 will feel like live event TV,
but without the stumbles that have plagued other awards broadcasts.
Beyond the fun and spectacle, this show is important because it symbolizes something larger happening in American life:
Hollywood no longer decides what “the national moment” is.
Sometimes politics does. Sometimes music does.
In this case, both worlds are colliding.
Shared broadcasts are rare in 2025.
This one has everything working in its favor: stars, nostalgia, conflict, curiosity, and timing.
Most awards shows are fading.
This broadcast feels like a reboot of the genre.
At the core of everything, the honorees earned their moment.
Their performances and stories are the heart of the broadcast.
Because you genuinely won’t know what’s coming next.
There has never been a Kennedy Center Honors broadcast like this.
It’s equal parts:
In a strange way, that’s the perfect formula for holiday-season TV.
Whether you love Trump, dislike him, or land somewhere in the middle,
whether you’re a Stallone fan, a KISS lifer, a country devotee, or a musical theater lover…
The 48th Kennedy Center Honors will be one of the most interesting, unpredictable, and talked-about broadcasts of the year.
It’s rare that a show appeals to
political watchers,
music fans,
movie fans,
cultural analysts,
and casual viewers
all at once.
This one does.
And that alone makes it worth tuning in.
