Barbra Streisand Slams Donald Trump Over Kennedy Center Drama: 'Painful to Witness'

Barbra Streisand shared scathing thoughts on President Donald Trump's handling of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts naming issue, according to Variety.

The 83-year-old singer and actress explained her objections in a lengthy statement posted to her website on Thursday, September 17.

She described the dispute as "painful to witness," concluding that the fight to rename the Center was ultimately over one man's "unchecked ego."

Streisand recalled being named among the 31st class of Kennedy Center Honorees years back.

"In 2008, I was deeply honored to be included in the 31st annual class of Kennedy Center Honorees,” she wrote. "For me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy."

Continuing, she added that she felt indignation at seeing the institution become the center of a bitter fight, then in the same statement urged Americans to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.

The Trump-aligned Kennedy Center board had been looking to add the president's name to the building and rename parts of the complex in his honor for some time. It's a move that's drawn a large amount of opposition from artists as well as a slew of lawsuits.

The courts have blocked those moves, though. In fact, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the board couldn't add Trump's name on the building facade or rename the plaza without congressional approval.

One ruling read that memorials like this one couldn't be installed without Congress's blessing. After an earlier edict had ordered that Trump's name be removed after it briefly appeared, a tarp has been covering the original name.

This week, things got a bit hairier when it comes to the naming feud. The center's board, which oted to temporarily close the venue, saying the institution was actually facing budgeting issues.

Critics have been vocal about questioning the name change's timing. Trump threatened to withhold a nearly $300 million renovation and suggested the center could be "ripped down" without his support.

This week, a federal judge ordered that the administration must give at least 30 days' notice before any demolition. Streisand argued in her statement that there had been no talk of closing the venue when Trump's name was still on it, however.

The naming fight isn't just relegated to one part of this battle. House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to rename the center's Opera House the "First Lady Melania Trump Opera House," advancing it in a party-line committee vote as part of a spending bill.

The Kennedy Center opened in 1971. It was originally designated by Congress in 1964 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy after his assassination the previous year.

It's regarded as one of the country's most important cultural institutions, with annual Honors celebrations and performances.

The center itself is still dealing with a variety of legal and legislative fights over its name.