Show goes on without the president
Honorees included the oldest and youngest ever
WASHINGTON – The President’s Box at the Kennedy Center Opera House was heavy on the stars but light on the presidents Sunday night as the 40th annual honors ceremony went without its customary appearance by the White House occupant.
But the show, honoring dancer Carmen de Lavallade, singers Gloria Estefan and Lionel Richie, rapper LL Cool J and TV writer/producer Norman Lear, went off without a hitch.
Guests seemed unfazed by the missing first family, whom the White House announced in August would cancel the traditional reception at 1600 Pennsylvania and skip the ceremony after Lear and de Lavallade said they would boycott the presidential meet-and-greet.
De Lavallade, one of the first black dancers at the Metropolitan Opera, said she felt good about her decision, made after Trump’s controversial comments around the white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Va., this summer.
“This is the first time in my life I said no, and something in my soul, I’ve never felt that before — said no, no more,” the Yale Repertory Theatre instructor said on the red carpet.
Richie couldn’t stop flashing the megawatt smile his daughter Nicole Richie called one of the four-time Grammy winner’s defining attributes.
“Have you seen this on my neck?” he said while making his way into the opera house, pointing down to the rainbow ribbon. “I’m graduating in a class with Norman Lear, excuse me!”
Though the former Commodores crooner had some of the biggest names of the night making surprise appearances to sing his praises, Lear received emotional tributes from all, including his fellow nominees.
At 95, the TV writer and producer is the oldest honoree to date. The influence of his lengthy career brought out the likes of Star Wars producer J.J. Abrams, who introduced a George Clooney-narrated story of Lear’s life and accomplishments.
Rita Moreno, a 2015 Kennedy Center honoree who now stars on Netflix’s reboot of Lear’s One Day at a Time, got in one of the best lines of the night while lauding the original’s pioneering portrayal of teen sex and sexual harassment.
“And look how far we’ve come,” she quipped.
On the other end of the spectrum, LL Cool J, 49, became the youngest to receive the honor and the first hip-hop artist to do so.
The fact that the storied Kennedy Center was spotlighting the genre was not lost on LL, who was happy to focus on what it means for young musicians, rather than politics.
“I think it’s about the love, the culture,” he said. “I want hip-hop to be remembered as a unifying force. I’m coming in here and I’m representing and it’s going to be unity and music and love and art and dance and TV.”
The 40th annual honors ceremony will be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 26 (9 ET/PT).