Kennedy Center seeks $1 million in damages from musician who canceled show after Trump’s name was added
The president of the Kennedy Center on Friday sharply criticized a musician’s sudden decision to cancel a Christmas Eve performance at the venue days after the White House announced that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility.
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent name change, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic and very costly intolerance for a nonprofit arts institution,” the venue’s president, Richard Grenell, wrote in a letter to musician Chuck Redd that was shared with The Associated Press.
In the letter, Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages “for this political stunt.”
Redd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A drummer and vibraphone player, Redd has chaired the holiday “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts. In an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Redd said he withdrew from the concert following the name change.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website, and then a few hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd said. He added Wednesday that the event is a “very popular holiday tradition” and often features at least one student musician.
“One of the many reasons why it was very sad that we had to cancel,” he told the AP.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year designating the center as his living memorial.
Grenell is a Trump ally whom the president chose to lead the Kennedy Center after ousting previous leadership. According to the White House, Trump’s hand-picked board approved the name change, which scholars say violates the law. Kennedy’s niece, Kerry Kennedy, has pledged to remove Trump’s name from the building once he leaves office, and former House historian Ray Smock is among those who say any changes would need to be approved by Congress.
The law explicitly prohibits the board from making the center a memorial to anyone and from putting another person’s name on the exterior of the building.
