The show’s host, musician Chuck Redd, told The Associated Press he called off the performance after the White House announced last week that President Trump’sname would be added to the facility— drawing pushback from Democratic lawmakers and some scholars, who say the change violates the law. According to the White House, the president’s handpicked board approved the decision to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. The revised name later appeared on the building’s facade.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday. Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has been presiding over holiday “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts.
The center’s website lists the show as canceled.
The Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, Roma Daravi, told CBS News in a statement: “Any artist cancelling their show at the Trump Kennedy Center over political differences isn’t courageous or principled — they are selfish, intolerant, and have failed to meet the basic duty of a public artist: to perform for all people.”
In a letter to Redd, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell called the cancellation a “political stunt” and alleged that Jazz Jams have faced “dismal ticket sales.” Grenell also said the center plans to seek $1 million in damages.
CBS News has reached out to Redd for comment.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law naming the center as a living memorial to him. The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees adding any additional memorials to the site.
The decision to rename the center has drawn steep criticism from congressional Democrats and some members of Kennedy’s family. Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio sued over the renaming Monday, calling it a “flagrant violation of the rule of law” and noting that the name can’t be changed without an act of Congress.
Grenell, who was appointed by Mr. Trump,
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Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2025-12-27 09:15:00
Source: uaetodaynews.com
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