SATIRIST STEALS MARCH ON TRUMP

KENNEDY CENTRE RENAMING SAGA TAKES MISCHIEVOUS TURN

- STORY: JOHN YOON / NYT

The tarp is removed after workers added the name of President Donald Trump to the facade of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on Friday, Dec 19.

While President Donald Trump was leading a campaign to remake the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a comedy writer was busy securing the most intuitive web address for its new name, TrumpKennedyCenter.org, and turning it into a parody of the institution.

Now, the website is drawing attention as a backlash grows over the rebranding of the centre to include Mr Trump's name. High-profile artists have cancelled performances, and a federal lawsuit has challenged the renaming, saying that it requires an act of Congress.

Toby Morton, 54, a television writer and producer who has worked on animated sitcom South Park and MadTV, said Thursday that he secured the domain in August, wagering that a name change would come after Mr Trump purged several members of the Kennedy Center's board and installed himself as its chair.

"Since 2020, I've been grabbing domains tied to politicians and authoritarian figures and turning them into blunt, often uncomfortable reflections of what they actually represent," Morton said in an email.