Michael Crawford Doesn’t Need This Honor and He Shouldn’t Want It

by Chris Peterson

Michael Crawford has nothing left to prove. Nothing.

The man has a résumé that would make any West End or Broadway veteran weep into their playbill. From originating the role of the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera to his Olivier and Tony Awards, to his iconic turns in Barnum, The Woman in White, and Hello, Dolly!(we’ll skip Dance of the Vampires), he has collected more honors, accolades, and standing ovations than most performers could dream of. His legacy is secure. His reputation is burnished. His place in theatre history is locked in stone.

And that is before we even mention his three decades of work with The Sick Children’s Trust, a charity that provides families of seriously ill children with somewhere to stay, free of charge, while their child is in hospital. This is not celebrity charity-by-photo-op. This is the kind of slow, sustained, unglamorous work that actually changes lives. He has raised millions. He has shown up, over and over, for families at their lowest moments. That is the kind of honor you cannot pin on a lapel.

Which is why the news that he is set to receive a Kennedy Center Honor this year, under this administration, lands like a wrong note in an otherwise flawless score.

Because let us be clear. A Kennedy Center Honor from the Trump administration is not the same as a Kennedy Center Honor from any other administration. This is an administration that has fought to dismantle healthcare access in the United States, to strip coverage from families who need it most, to treat care and compassion as bargaining chips rather than moral imperatives. It is the exact opposite of everything Michael Crawford has spent decades standing for.

Yes, the Kennedy Center Honors are technically “non-partisan.” But let us not pretend they exist in a vacuum. They are a White House–adjacent celebration. They carry the implicit endorsement of the moment in which they are given. And in this moment, accepting one means standing on that stage, smiling for the cameras, while the very people handing you the medal are ripping away healthcare from the vulnerable.

It is also worth noting that Crawford reportedly lives in New Zealand. He is seemingly not deeply enmeshed in the American political scene, nor has he ever been known for partisan statements. He is an artist, not a political activist, and it is easy to imagine that, from his perspective, this might simply feel like another well-earned career honor. But in today’s climate, optics are everything. Standing there in front of this administration could instantly, and unfairly, have him labeled as “MAGA” by those who do not know or care about his real views. That label, once attached, does not wash off easily.

What makes this even more galling is the way his honor was announced. Instead of highlighting his lifetime of achievements, the decades of performances, the awards, the philanthropy, the official line focused on the fact that Phantom of the Opera was Donald Trump’s favorite musical in the 1980s. That is it. Not his Tony. Not his Olivier. Not his 30 years of work for sick children. Just that the President liked the show. It reduces a monumental career to a trivia fact about someone else’s taste, and it underlines the fact that this honor is not really about celebrating him, it is about using him.

And there is another layer here. Broadway is not just a place; it is a community. One that has long been home to LGBTQ artists, audiences, and advocates. It is a community that thrives on inclusivity, diversity, and the belief that everyone’s story deserves a stage. This administration has repeatedly targeted LGBTQ people through policy rollbacks, legal challenges, and rhetoric meant to erase or marginalize them. Accepting this honor under that banner does not just risk undermining Crawford’s charitable work, it risks alienating a community that has embraced him for decades.

Crawford’s career has been about lifting people up, onstage and off. His performances have transported audiences. His charity work has comforted families. He has spent years using his voice for good, not as a prop for the powerful. To accept this honor now would be to let his name be used as window dressing for an administration hostile to the very values he has embodied.

Michael Crawford does not need this honor. His mantel is already full. He does not need the prestige; he has been the toast of London, Broadway, and beyond. He does not need the validation; the theatre world has been validating him for decades. What he does need is to protect the integrity of his life’s work. Accepting this particular honor would read, at best, as willful ignorance, and at worst, as tacit approval.

Declining it would not diminish him. Quite the opposite. It would make a statement that no award is worth compromising your principles. That the real measure of honor is not the medal you wear, but the stand you take. And it would align perfectly with the Michael Crawford we have known for years, the one who shows up for sick children without expecting fanfare, the one who already understands that the truest rewards do not come from politicians or television cameras.

After all, there is no shortage of people willing to stand next to power for a photo. But the list of people who have the courage to say, “No, not from you” is far shorter. Michael Crawford has the chance to be on it.