Kennedy Center criticizes musician who canceled performance after Trump name added to building

[LetMyPeopleVote]

35. Trump's Kennedy Center ally hits musician with $1M demand over Christmas Eve cancelation

This lawsuit will be interesting to follow. The artist contracted to perform in the Kennedy Center and that name no longer exists.

Trump's Kennedy Center ally hits musician with M demand over Christmas Eve cancelation

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2025-12-27T02:00:41.533Z

https://www.rawstory.com/kennedy-center-2674831343

The president of the Kennedy Center’s board is once again lashing out at critics of President Donald Trump – this time targeting a veteran jazz musician who abruptly canceled a Christmas Eve performance following the center’s MAGA-style renaming to the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”

Richard Grenell, a Trump ally who has led the board since February, blasted musician Chuck Redd after the drummer and vibraphonist withdrew from his long-running holiday “Jazz Jams” performance at the venue, a tradition he has overseen since 2006, Politico reported Friday.

In a sharply worded letter shared with The Associated Press, Grenell accused Redd of engaging in “classic intolerance” and called the cancellation a “political stunt” that he claimed would cause significant financial harm to the nonprofit arts institution.

“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” Grenell wrote in the letter, adding that he intends to seek $1 million in damages over the last-minute withdrawal.

Redd told the AP on the day of his scheduled performance that he canceled the performance after seeing Trump’s name added to the building and website.

“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 said, as reported by Politico.

If this case goes to trial before a DC jury, it will be fun to see what happens.