The Washington National Opera has filed a lawsuit against the Kennedy Center, claiming it has been blocked from $17 million in donated funds.
Visitors look at a bronze sculpture of President Kennedy, right, in the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, on Feb. 2, 2026 in Washington.
Washington National Opera has sued the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, seeking more than $17 million. The Kennedy Center counters that the opera’s contract saddled it with years of financial losses, citing a $72-million accumulated deficit. The clash unfolds amid broader turmoil at the nation’s performing arts center, including Trump-era board upheaval, and a contentious renaming.filed a lawsuit on Thursday that demands more than $17 million from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The opera company claims it is owed millions in donations that have been withheld. The lawsuit claims that after the opera company and the Kennedy Center parted ways in January, center officials have not returned more than $17 million in gifts and donations that belong to the opera company. The lawsuit lists the federal government as a defendant because the Kennedy Center was established by Congress.
According to the suit, the opera company and the Kennedy Center had a longstanding contract in which WNO produced its operas at the Kennedy Center, which in return, provided a number of services and other support for the opera company including managing its donations. The Kennedy Center’s new president, Matt Floca, is leading tours to show the building’s need for major repairs.
In late 2025, after approximately 15 years of affiliation, the suit claims that the Kennedy Center stopped performing the obligations of their agreement, which included marketing, fundraising and administrative support, as well as timely reporting on the growth of the opera company’s funds. When the opera company requested the Kennedy Center remedy the issue, center officials asked to sever ties.
“Five months have now passed since the termination of the affiliation, and the Kennedy Center still has not returned the funds to WNO,” reads the suit. “To the contrary, according to the Kennedy Center’s Chief Financial Officer, the Kennedy Center has put a significant portion of WNO’s money at risk by using it to collateralize the Kennedy Center’s line of credit.
” In an emailed statement responding to the lawsuit, Roma Daravi, a spokeswoman for the Kennedy Center, told The Times that the contract between the opera house and the center financially burdened the center for more than a decade. The statement claimed that taking into account the company’s endowment, an external accounting firm calculated that the opera company had “accumulated a $72 million deficit to the center” between 2011 and 2026.
The Kennedy Center without Trump’s name is still tainted: L.A. arts and culture this weekend President Trump’s name has been removed from the Kennedy Center’s website and is coming off the building, too. But serious damage has been done.
“The Center has acted transparently and in the best interests of the public throughout this process,” the statement reads. “This lawsuit is meritless, and we plan to pursue a countersuit to defend the institution. ”the day after his handpicked board of trustees voted to change the institution’s name to the “Trump-Kennedy Center. ” Last month,from the exterior of the building within two weeks and a halt to the Trump administration’s planned two-year closure of the venue.
Emily St. Martin is an entertainment reporter on the Fast Break Desk. Before joining the Los Angeles Times, she contributed to the New York Times, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, BBC, Vice and Los Angeles Magazine. She also previously worked at the Hollywood Reporter, and served as the digital features editor at Southern California News Group. In 2025, she won first place for best editorial with the L.A. Press Club.
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