There have been questions surrounding Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) and whether she was removed from the Kennedy Center’s board after she criticized both President Trump and the board. Recent court filings indicate that an invitation to the board was mistakenly sent to her spam folder.
CNN reporter Betsy Klein shared an update about the situation on X: “Today’s Washington edition is Veep. A Democratic lawmaker has filed a legal complaint against President Donald Trump, in part for excluding her from the upcoming Kennedy Center Board of Directors. It turns out the invitation was in her spam folder. Aides provided an update today.”
Klein included a screenshot from a court filing detailing how Beatty discovered the email. The documents mention: “On March 6, 2026, after the defendant’s attorney informed the court that the Center had sent a notice to Congresswoman Beatty’s personal email address, I asked Congresswoman Beatty to search her personal email. She was able to find the notice in the spam folder.”
“The Kennedy Center is proud to be a partner in the Kennedy Center,” said Roma Daravi, vice president of communications at the Kennedy Center. One comment on Twitter questioned the situation, asking, “Did the dog eat his homework too?”
This issue surfaced as Beatty filed a lawsuit regarding the Kennedy Center’s governance. An attorney for the Ohio Democratic Party asserted in court that she wasn’t invited to a March 16 meeting that was meant to discuss renovation plans.
The Department of Justice had declared that the invitation was indeed sent, and Beatty’s legal team confirmed later that it ended up in her email’s spam folder. Her attorney noted that the lawmaker “appreciates the defendant’s confirmation that she will be able to attend the White House meeting.”
Beatty explained to reporters that invitations typically go to her scheduler or chief of staff—not her personal email. She mentioned that her chief of staff stopped receiving emails a few months ago, while the scheduler did not get an invitation for the March 16 meeting. After a hearing, her lawyer, Norm Eisen, remarked about the email getting caught in a spam filter, joking, “I don’t think there’s a single person here who hasn’t had an email disappear somewhere in a spam filter. That’s what happened here.”
The conflict arose in a hearing in front of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper concerning Beatty’s request for a temporary restraining order related to a Kennedy Center board meeting. As an ex-officio trustee, Beatty insists that she should have the right to participate and vote on matters related to the agency.
Justice Department attorney William Jankowski stated in a court filing that Beatty “is not entitled to vote” because the board’s procedures treat ex-officio trustees differently from governing trustees.
Cooper remarked that the proposed changes to the performing arts venue—referred to as the best in the nation—are significant, and he intends to decide on the matter promptly.
In December 2025, Beatty filed a lawsuit against President Trump and the board members after the center was named to include Trump’s name. She argued that only Congress has the authority to rename an institution and remained silent during the board meeting when the matter was discussed.
In February 2025, Beatty deleted social media posts where she claimed Trayvon Martin was a victim of police brutality and attributed his death to racially motivated violence after he was shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, in 2012.
During a CBS News interview in July, Beatty mentioned that the economic indicators presented by the Trump administration were “just numbers,” expressing skepticism about their accuracy: “I think those make up the numbers. I don’t trust this president or this administration.”
