Kennedy Center bigs shrug off

Caitlyn (Jessy Schram, inset) an aspiring fashion designer, gets a fairy-tale break when a prince and the woman he is expected to marry come to town ... and he and Caitlyn feel some sparks.

‘The 40th Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” airing Tuesday at 9 p.m. on CBS, went on this year despite President Trump and the First Lady sitting it out.

The show pays tribute to five artists who this year hail mostly from music backgrounds. They include pop/ R&B singer Lionel Richie, rapper/actor LL Cool J, singer Gloria Estefan, television writer/producer Norman Lear and actress/dancer/ choreographer Carmen de Lavallade.

Lear, 95, almost sparked a rare moment of controversy after his inclusion was announced earlier this year. He said that while he would accept the honor, he would not participate in the traditional pre-show ceremony at the White House because he objected strongly to Trump’s proposals that would eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Traditionally, the ceremonies begin with a reception at the White House, hosted by the President and First Lady. In 35 of the previous 39 years, the President has also attended the show.

This year, Trump announced that he and the First Lady would not participate in any of the events, to avoid creating any distraction.

The White House reception was canceled and the Trumps did not attend the show. And Lear did. Co-producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner diplomatically say the absence of the President doesn’t affect their job. “We produce what we hope is a great show regardless of who’s in the audience,” Kirshner tells the Daily News. “The world is what the world is.”

During the ceremony, the honorees sit in the audience watching as their careers are extolled and some of their work performed by fellow artists.

Presenters included Meryl Streep, Dave Chappelle, Eva Longoria and Quincy Jones.

“We try to present it as if it were a live event,” Weiss tells The News of the show that was taped Dec. 3 at the John F.

Stars pack stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington to honor (counterclockwise from below) Gloria Estefan, Lionel Richie, LL Cool J, Carmen de Lavallade and Norman Lear, who threatened to skip the traditional White House reception before the show.