Lionel Richie May Not Attend Kennedy Center Honors Reception at the White House

By Aidan McLaughlinAug 15th, 2017, 2:30 pm
 

Lionel Richie said on the Today Show Tuesday morning that he may not attend the Kennedy Center Honors reception at the White House with President Donald Trump.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts holds an annual gala in December, in which recipients are awarded for lifetime contributions to American culture. The gala is also accompanied by a reception at the White House with the president and first lady.

But in the video flagged by Gossip Cop, Richie said he wasn’t sure whether he would attend, given the state of the Trump administration.

“I’m going to just play it by ear,” said the pop icon, who is being honored by the center this year. “I must tell you, I’m not really happy as to what’s going on right now with the controversies. They’re weekly, daily, hourly. But I think I’m just gonna wait it out for a minute, see where it’s going to be by that time.”

“This is going to be in December,” Richie continued. “We may be in a whole other world by that time. But I’m gonna wait it out.”

Richie is not the only honoree to have reservations about the White House reception: Norman Lear, who is set to be honored for his storied career in television, tweeted that while he would accept the honors, he would not attend the reception with Trump:

“I totally understand Norman’s point of view, and I understand where we are as a country right now is going backwards, but all we can do is sit here and hold our breath for a minute.” Richie said on Today.

“Stay tuned for that,” he concluded, on whether he would eventually attend.

[image via screengrab]

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Aidan McLaughlin is the Editor in Chief of Mediaite. Send tips via email: aidan@mediaite.com. Ask for Signal. Follow him on Twitter: @aidnmclaughlin