Mark Twain Prize Winner Whoopi Goldberg Is Boycotting the Kennedy Center

The “View” host is the first recipient of that annual honor to speak out against the Kennedy Center ahead of a ceremony honoring Conan O’Brien later in March.

Whoopi Goldberg declared a boycott against performances at the Kennedy Center following President Donald Trump’s takeover of the country’s national cultural center.

Goldberg was awarded the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2001 and has attended the annual Kennedy Center Honors event several times over the past decade, most recently in 2023.

WASHINGTON – DECEMBER 3: Pictured: Whoopi Goldberg at THE 46TH ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS, which will air Wednesday, Dec. 27 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. (Photo by Gail Schulman/CBS via Getty Images)CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images

But on Thursday’s episode of The View, Goldberg said her support of the Center is over now that Trump has axed the bipartisan board members and replaced them with his own supporters.

It “was a big smack to the arts, which don’t have a politics,” Goldberg said. “I have no plans to go back to the Kennedy Center until the Kennedy Center becomes what it was supposed to be—a welcome place for all artists no matter what your groove is.”

Goldberg was reacting Thursday to the news that Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda would be scrapping their 2026 performances of the musical at the Kennedy Center. Their decision drew backlash from Trump’s newly installed interim director Richard Grenell, who called it “publicity stunt that will backfire.”

It’s one of several high-profile exits and cancellations since Trump’s overhaul.

The powerful TV showrunner Shonda Rhimes stepped down as treasurer after Trump announced himself as its chair (she had been a vocal supporter of Kamala Harris on the campaign trail). Singer Ben Folds also stepped down as artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra. And Issa Rae canceled a sold out upcoming appearance at the Kennedy Center in protest after the news was announced.

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 07: Stephen Colbert and Whoopi Goldberg attend the 37th Annual Kennedy Center Honors at The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts on December 7, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)Kevin Mazur/WireImage

The growing boycott comes just as Conan O’Brien is set to receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize on March 23.

Netflix struck a multi-year deal with the Center to stream the Mark Twain ceremony last year, when comedian Kevin Hart was the honoree. Performers that year included Dave Chappelle, Jimmy Fallon, Tiffany Haddish, Chelsea Handler, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, and more.

But as more celebrities are sitting out the Kennedy Center’s events in protest of Trump, one can’t help but wonder how many of O’Brien’s fellow comedians might follow Goldberg’s lead and leave him hanging for his turn at the honor.

Netflix confirmed to the Daily Beast that the event is expected to go on as planned and a representative for O’Brien declined to comment on the record about his plans to attend.