South Park writer bought Trump-Kennedy Center domain names months ago to troll president; Entertainment Weekly, December 26, 2025

 Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly; South Park writer bought Trump-Kennedy Center domain names months ago to troll president

"It looks like the writers of South Park are following in The Simpsons' footsteps when it comes to predicting future events.

In a recent interview with The Washington Post, writer Toby Morton revealed that not only did he predict that Donald Trump would decide to add his name to the The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, he prepared for it. In August, the writer, who regularly buys political domains and turns them into satirical websites as a form of activism, bought the rights to both trumpkennedycenter.org and trumpkennedycenter.com.

"As soon as Trump began gutting the Kennedy Center board earlier this year, I thought, 'Yep, that name's going on the building,'" Morton, a comedy writer who has worked on series such as South Park and Mad TV, told the publication. "The rest followed on schedule."...

"The Kennedy Center has always been a cultural institution meant to outlast any one administration or personality," he asserted. "It's meant to honor culture, not ego. Once it was treated like personal branding, satire became unavoidable."...

The renaming immediately drew the ire of the political family, with the likes of Robert F. Kennedy's grandson Joe Kennedy III and John F. Kennedy's niece Maria Shriver and grandson Jack Schlossberg all speaking out.

Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty also contested Leavitt’s version of events in her own social media post. "For the record. This was not unanimous," she wrote. "I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move. Also for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship.""

Lawmaker Sues to Remove Trump’s Name From the Kennedy Center; The New York Times, December 22, 2025

Shawn McCreesh , The New York Times; Lawmaker Sues to Remove Trump’s Name From the Kennedy Center

"Representative Joyce Beatty, Democrat of Ohio, sued President Trump on Monday, seeking to force the removal of his name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Ms. Beatty’s lawsuit names as defendants Mr. Trump and the loyalists he appointed to the center’s board. The suit contends that the board’s vote to change the name last week was illegal because an act of Congress is required to rename the building.

Ms. Beatty is represented by Norman Eisen, a White House ethics counsel in the Obama administration, along with Nathaniel Zelinsky, his co-counsel of the Washington Litigation Group.

Mr. Eisen said the name change “violates the Constitution and the rule of law because Congress said this is the name. He doesn’t have a right to change the name.”"

New Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Renaming of the Kennedy Center; Washington Litigation Group, December 22, 2025

Washington Litigation Group; New Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Renaming of the Kennedy Center

"Congresswoman Joyce Beatty today sued President Trump and others to stop the unlawful renaming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the Congresswoman in her capacity as an ex officio trustee of the Kennedy Center by the Washington Litigation Group and Democracy Defenders Action. Congresswoman Beatty participated in the recent Board meeting and alleges she was prevented from speaking when she attempted to object to the renaming. 

“Only Congress has the authority to rename the Kennedy Center. President Trump and his cronies must not be allowed to trample federal law and bypass Congress to feed his ego,” said Congresswoman Beatty. “This entire process has been a complete disgrace to this cherished institution and the people it serves. These unlawful actions must be blocked before any further damage is done.”

Shortly after President Kennedy’s assassination, Congress designated the Kennedy Center as the sole national memorial within the nation’s capital to the late President. The lawsuit argues that because Congress named the center by statute, changing the Kennedy Center’s name requires an act of Congress. 

The suit follows a December 18, 2025 announcement that the Board had voted to rebrand the Kennedy Center with President Trump’s name, and the rapid installation of new exterior signage and related digital branding changes the next day. The lawsuit contends that the Board’s action is legally void and damages the institution’s public mission by turning a national memorial into a political vanity project.

“The President and his sycophants have no lawful authority to rename the Kennedy Center,” said Nathaniel Zelinsky, Senior Counsel at Washington Litigation Group and Amb. Norman Eisen (ret.), founder of Democracy Defenders Action. “Congress named the Kennedy Center as a national memorial to President Kennedy, and only Congress can change that. We are proud to represent Congresswoman Beatty as she defends the integrity of this institution and the separation of powers.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asks the court to declare the Board’s renaming vote unlawful and without legal effect, order removal of the physical and digital signage and branding changes, restore the Kennedy Center’s lawful name, and prevent further attempts to rename it without congressional authorization.

WLG’s lead lawyers on the case are Senior Counsels Nathaniel Zelinsky and Kyle Freeny.  Also on the complaint from WLG are:  Thomas C. Green, John Aldock, Samantha P. Bateman, Elizabeth D. Collery, Mary L. Dohrmann, James I. Pearce, Barry Wm Levine.  WLG is litigating the case alongside Democracy Defenders Action."