Kennedy Center seeks $1M from host who canceled show over Trump name change

The president of the Kennedy Center sharply criticized a musician Friday for canceling a Christmas Eve performance at the venue after the White House announced that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the building.

Richard Grenell, the center’s president, accused musician Chuck Redd of political intolerance in a letter responding to the sudden withdrawal, which Grenell said came just days before the scheduled concert. The letter, shared with The Associated Press, said the cancellation was explicitly tied to the recent renaming of the facility, which Grenell described as honoring Trump’s efforts to preserve the arts institution.

“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming — is classic intolerance and very costly to a nonprofit arts institution,” Grenell wrote. He said the Kennedy Center would seek $1 million in damages, calling the cancellation a “political stunt.”

In an email earlier this week to the AP, Redd said he canceled the performance after learning of the name change. He said he first saw the update on the Kennedy Center’s website and then on the building itself, prompting him to pull out of the event.

A drummer and vibraphone player, Redd has led the Kennedy Center’s holiday “Jazz Jams” since 2006, taking over the role from bassist William “Keter” Betts. The annual concerts have been a staple of the venue’s holiday programming for nearly two decades.

The renaming has sparked controversy and legal questions. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed legislation the following year establishing the center as a living memorial to him. The law restricts the board of trustees from dedicating the building to anyone else or placing another individual’s name on its exterior.

The White House has said the decision to add Trump’s name was approved by a board appointed by the president. Legal scholars and historians have disputed that move, arguing congressional approval would be required. Kennedy’s niece, Kerry Kennedy, has said she intends to remove Trump’s name once he leaves office, while former House historian Ray Smock has echoed concerns about the legality of the change.

This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.

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