Overview
- The Washington National Opera filed a lawsuit on June 12 seeking more than $17 million it says the Kennedy Center is refusing to return after the two organizations ended a formal affiliation earlier this year.
- WNO says the disputed money includes endowment assets, donor contributions and bequests that the Center held while managing donations for the opera.
- The complaint alleges Kennedy Center CFO Donna Arduin told opera leaders that an account of donor funds had been used as collateral for the Center’s line of credit.
- The Kennedy Center denies the claim, says the funds belong to the Center, cites an outside accounting finding that it absorbed a $72 million deficit linked to the opera, and has signaled it will file a countersuit.
- WNO says it sought months of private remedies before suing and now stages productions at other venues while the case proceeds in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against the Center and the federal government.