Tom Cruise Turned Down Invite to Receive Kennedy Center Honor from Donald Trump: Report

Tom Cruise reportedly declined to be among the first group of Kennedy Center Honorees during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Cruise, 63, was offered but declined due to “scheduling conflicts,” several current and former Kennedy Center employees told The Washington Post on Wednesday, Aug. 13. 

A spokesman for Cruise declined to comment to the Post. PEOPLE also reached out to a rep for the actor.

Trump, 79, attempted to take control of the Kennedy Center arts complex earlier this year. George Strait, KISS, Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor and Sylvester Stallone make up the 2025 class of honorees. The ceremony will take place on Dec. 7 and will later air on CBS and stream on Paramount+.

While unveiling the recipients at the Kennedy Center’s Hall of Nations, Trump said he was “very involved” in picking the group.

“I would say I was about 98 percent involved. They all went through me,” the president said, per the Post. “… I had a couple of wokesters. Now, we have great people. This is very different than it used to be, very different.”

Cruise is still slated to receive an honorary award for his contribution to the film industry before the end of 2025. In June, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced that he will receive an honorary Oscar at the 2025 Governors Awards on Nov. 16.

Debbie Allen and production designer Wynn Thomas will also be honored that night. Dolly Parton is set to receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Cruise has Oscar nominations for his performances in Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia, and also earned a Best Picture nomination as producer on Top Gun: Maverick. Earlier this summer, he starred in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and recently filmed a still-untitled movie directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, which is slated for release in October 2026. 

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After the Paramount and Skydance merger officially closed, David Ellison told reporters that a third Top Gun movie is among his top priorities. Maverick grossed over $1 billion globally in 2022.

“One of our biggest priorities is restoring Paramount as the No. 1 destination for the most talented artists and filmmakers in the world,” Ellison said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Great filmmakers make great movies.”