On Thursday, Donald Trump announced the recipients of the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors, which included country singer George Strait, hard rock legends KISS, Rocky star Sylvester Stallone, Broadway actor Michael Crawford, and disco legend Gloria Gaynor. However, at least one other individual was reportedly offered the honor, but declined.
Per The Washington Post, Tom Cruise cited “scheduling conflicts” as the reason for why he was unable to accept to the Kennedy Center Honor in 2025, “according to several current and former Kennedy Center employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss event plans.” A spokesperson for Cruise declined to comment.