Ginsburg Award gala canceled after criticism of honorees

An award given in the name of Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been abruptly canceled after the family of the late Supreme Court justice and others objected that this year’s slate of recipients do not reflect her values.

The Dwight D. Opperman Foundation last week announced it would award the prize to Elon Musk, Martha Stewart, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Milken and Sylvester Stallone. Critics couldn’t help but observe that these “five iconic individuals” — as the awards news release described them — included among them convicted felons and conservative billionaires who own right-wing media enterprises.

In a seven-paragraph statement released Monday, Julie Opperman — chairwoman of the foundation named after her late husband — addressed the criticism that erupted in the wake of the announcement.

“The Foundation is not interested in creating controversy. It is not interested in generating a debate about whether particular honorees are worthy or not. And while Justice Ginsburg’s concept of EQUALITY for women was very controversial for most of her life, the Foundation does not intend to enter the fray. Indeed, Justice Ginsburg was known for her civility,” Opperman wrote.

Jim Ginsburg, the liberal justice’s son, told The Washington Post via email that he is “relieved” the awards will not proceed.

Opperman said the foundation will “reconsider its mission and make a judgment about how or whether to proceed in the future.” The award previously had honored only women but had been expanded to include men for this year’s ceremony, which was scheduled to take place at the Library of Congress on April 13.

Galas built around impressively named awards are a stalwart of the Washington elite social scene — and a way to entice celebrity honorees to rub elbows with politicians and business leaders over $1,000-a-head plates of prime rib. Even as many of these awards dinners succeed at raising funds or awareness for worthy causes, the see-and-be-seen spectacle is often what fuels the entire endeavor.

The honor was originally called the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award when it was first awarded in 2020. Its first recipient, philanthropist and arts patron Agnes Gund, was presented with the award by the justice herself, and subsequent awardees included Queen Elizabeth II — a friend accepted on her behalf — and Diane von Furstenberg.

Last year, the foundation announced its intentions to honor Barbra Streisand, with a news release stating the superstar would accept the award at a Library of Congress event in April 2023. But Streisand did not ultimately travel to Washington and instead received her prize in a “private ceremony” in July.

Ginsburg was longtime friends with Dwight Opperman, who served as president of West Publishing Co., which created the online research service Westlaw. He and Julie Opperman married in 2008. He died in 2013.