President Trump has broken from tradition to announce this year’s Kennedy Center honorees personally during a press conference rather than revealing the recipients via press release. It’s all part of the president’s goal of being more involved with the Center, which he installed himself as chairman of after taking office.

This year’s celebrity honorees include country singer George Strait, legendary actor Sylvester Stallone, the rock band KISS, “Phantom of the Opera” actor Michael Crawford, and singer Gloria Gaynor.

“The 48th Kennedy Center Honorees are outstanding people, incredible, we can’t wait … in a few short months since I became chairman of the board, the Kennedy Center, we’ve completely reversed the decline of this cherished national institution,” Trump said during his speech on Wednesday.

When asked if he participated in the selection process, Trump said he was “about 98% involved” and that “they all came through me.”

The president flat out said he turned down certain suggestions for being too “woke.”

“I turned down plenty, they were too woke. … I had a couple of wokesters. No, we have great people. This is very different than it used to be,” Trump added. He went on to mention other Hollywood awards shows, which seemingly take an opposite approach.

“Look at the Academy Awards — it gets lousy ratings now, it’s all woke. All they do is talk about how much they hate Trump, but nobody likes that. They don’t watch anymore,” Trump said.

End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships

Trump made headlines earlier this year when he promised to reform the Kennedy Center, which began when he replaced its board and was elected chairman. Trump also tapped Special Envoy Richard Grenell to serve as the Center’s president.

“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote in February. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP.”

This year’s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on December 7.

Taylor Swift poked fun at her image among NFL fans in a sneak peek from her appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast, set to premiere Wednesday night.

The 35-year-old pop star made a joke about being a guest on the “New Heights” sports podcast, which is hosted by Travis and his brother, Jason Kelce. Travis is currently the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Jason retired in 2024 after playing center for 13 years with the Philadelphia Eagles.

“You guys have a lot of male sports fans that listen to your podcast. And I think we all know that if there’s one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens, it’s more of me,” Swift said with a laugh on the episode teaser ahead of the upcoming episode.

The “Shake It Off” singer was referring to NFL fans who got annoyed by Swift constantly being shown on camera during Chiefs games last season. But some league officials insisted her attendance helped bring the sport to a new audience, boosting viewership numbers. 

The league said in a statement in October 2023 that they had “seen an incredible amount of positivity around the sport” with Swift around and said “the vast majority” of the broadcast remained “focused on the game, our players, and [a] variety of other initiatives.”

That same month, Travis agreed that the focus on Swift was overdone.

“I think it’s fun when they show who was at the game. I think it brings a little bit more to the atmosphere, brings a little bit more to what you’re watching. But at the same time I think…,” Travis said at the time.

“They’re overdoing it,” Jason suggested, prompting Travis to agree.

“They’re overdoing it a little bit for sure, especially my situation. [But] I think they’re just trying to have fun with it,” the Chiefs player said.

Swift’s full interview with Travis and Jason premieres at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It’s expected to draw an above-average number of listeners after the pop star just announced her upcoming studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” on Tuesday.