Kennedy Center Switch From Tessitura to Ticketmaster Raises Live Nation Conflict Questions

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., is replacing its longtime non-profit Tessitura ticketing and donor-management system with Live Nation Entertainment's Ticketmaster platform, a transition that has delayed ticket sales for the December 7, 2026 Kennedy Center Honors at Capital One Arena and raised conflict-of-interest questions, NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas reported on November 12, 2026.

According to Live Nation's Securities and Exchange Commission filings cited by NPR, former Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell—who was appointed to run the center in February 2025 and departed in March 2026—joined Live Nation's board of directors in May 2025 and received $260,205 in board compensation plus 102 shares of Live Nation stock (worth roughly $14,200 at the time) while drawing $0 in salary from the Kennedy Center. Columbia Law School government-ethics professor Richard Briffault told NPR that serving as an officer of a venue while holding a paid board seat at a vendor negotiating with that venue 'is literally conflict of interest.'

Internal March 2026 emails obtained by NPR also show newly named artistic director Rick Canny—a veteran rock talent agent—telling then-CFO Donna Arduin Kauranen that he shaped the Ticketmaster agreement and blaming unionized IATSE box-office staff, who were laid off earlier in fall 2026 after the main building closed for a two-year renovation.