Kennedy Center's new programming head resigns days after hire was announced

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

January 28, 2026 at 8:15 p.m. EST


In a Jan. 16 news release, the Kennedy Center announced that Kevin Couch would be its new senior vice president of artistic programming. On Jan. 22, the center posted the announcement on X. Not a week later, Couch resigned. Couch confirmed his resignation Wednesday but declined to comment further. The Kennedy Center did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment. A webpage listing the center’s executive administration does not include Couch.

“We are proud to welcome Kevin Couch to the Trump Kennedy Center as we expand our commonsense programming,” the Kennedy Center’s president, Richard Grenell, said in the statement announcing Couch’s hiring. “Kevin brings a clear-eyed approach to curating a roster of compelling shows that invite and inspire all audiences.”

Couch founded CBC Creative, a Dallas-based branding agency. He also worked as a manager for various touring acts, including the R&B group Color Me Badd, according to the news release. His position as the director of programming for ATG Entertainment, which oversees venues in San Antonio, Tulsa, Little Rock and Springfield, Missouri, was the most relevant to his short-lived stint as an artistic programmer for the Kennedy Center. He routinely booked acts with wide appeal such as Nate Bargatze, Diana Ross and Carlos Santana.

“I am honored to join the Trump Kennedy Center at such a pivotal moment for the performing arts,” Couch said in the news release. “I look forward to the extraordinary creative possibilities ahead — championing our artists and partners to deliver meaningful experiences at America’s cultural center.” Couch’s surprisingly quick resignation comes as the Kennedy Center is shedding talent from its stages, with many cancellations announced after President Donald Trump, the center’s chairman, had his name added to the building and its branding.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2026/01/28/kennedy-center-kevin-couch-resigns-svp-artistic-programming/

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No paywall (gift)

[Hugin]

1. Couch, eh?

I’m not going to touch that one with the Second Lady on the board.

[Montauk6]

12. DAMMIT YOU SCOOPED ME, YOU SON OF AN ANGEL!!!!

[progressoid]

2. Two weeks? How many Scaramuccis is that?

[ret5hd]

3. there is an old CIA manual around...

on how to “gum up the works” if you are in a position to. i think it was WWII stuff, on how citizens of occupied areas could just sloooow—thiiiings—doooown…

constantly bring up or create problems, be ultra pedantic, ultra rule-following, ultra cautious… in essence be that employee that we ALL know that everyone just has to figure out how to work around.

i wonder if this is not an example of that.

[Prairie Gates]

4. New Podcast Idea: Shortless, featuring Kevin Couch and Anthony Scaramucci

On the podcast, they go by Couch and Cooch.

[erronis]

5. ouch.

[Enter stage left]

6. Some people are saying that Vance kept asking him for a...ummm...get together!

[Martin68]

7. Until Trump's name is removed, and his appointees are replaced, no decent American should support the Kennedy Center.

I've been a donating member for many years, but I won't give them a cent, or attend a single event there, until their artistic independence is restored.

[onenote]

11. Same

[cstanleytech]

16. And restored in such a way as that it's no longer under control of the Federal government.

[kimbutgar]

8. A guy I knew in high school is a balloon artist

And he had gigs at the Kennedy center to do his balloon magic and he cancelled the dates. He stated he can not in conscience perform at the renamed center.

[flashman13]

9. I wonder if someone asked him if he had any plans for a career after the Trump regine. Working at the

Trump Ego Trip Center could look very bad on a resume. It could even be a real career killer. Just sayin'.

[reACTIONary]

10. "Commonsense programming", aka...

... the same old junk you can find (mostly for free) everywhere.

[NJCher]

17. Exactly

You summed that one up perfectly.

It is the height of cultural naïveté to call art endeavors “common sense.”

[AZJonnie]

13. Once he got there and found out the next 6 months was 2 month residencies each

For Ted Nugent, Kid Rock, and "Joanie Loves Chachi, The Musical, Starring Scott Baio" he was like I can't even, I'm out.

[LudwigPastorius]

14. Ambitious guy takes a gig thinking he can work with political extremists.

Quickly realizes that no acts that anyone wants to see will play in a house with Trump's name on it.

[littlemissmartypants]

15. He saved his reputation, but not indefinitely.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Might be too late though

since the news broke!

[Vinca]

19. Let me guess. The programmer can't locate anyone willing to be on the program.

Guess Kid Rock can only do so many shows and Ted Nugent must be using a walker by now.

[BumRushDaShow]

21. They can always try to bring in Dennis Miller, Joe Piscopo, and Jon Lovitz

to do a few stand-up routines... AND the headliner could be... wait for it...

WAYNE NEWTON!

[Ray Bruns]

20. The Trump appointee timeline