The president of the Kennedy Center is seeking $1million from a musician who cancelled a Christmas Eve show after Donald Trump’s name was added to the building.
Last week (December 19), the board that presides over the Washington D.C. arts centre, which is closely allied with Trump, voted to rename the building as the Trump Kennedy Center, prompting jazz musician Chuck Redd to cancel an annual Christmas Eve show.
Redd has overseen the Jazz Jams at the venue during the holiday season since 2006, but after learning of the renaming decision, he decided to call off the show this time around.
“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.
Now, the venue’s president Richard Grenell has strongly criticised Redd’s decision and demanded $1million (£740,000) in damages for what he has described as a “political stunt”.
“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,” he said (via Associated Press).
Redd has not responded to requests for comment.
Democrats have already filed a lawsuit to remove Trump’s name from the building, with Representative Joyce Beatty, who is designated a member of the board by law, describing the change as unlawful as any renaming of the centre would require an act of Congress (via BBC).
The venue was originally named after John F. Kennedy in 1964 as a “living memorial” to the assassinated former president, and his niece Kerry Kennedy has also vowed to remove the Trump name once he leaves office.
Earlier this year it was reported that the producers of the musical Hamilton had cancelled their production at The Kennedy Center, due to Trump taking control of the venue, while in June, Trump was greeted by drag queens and booed during his first visit to the Center since installing himself as chairman.
Elsewhere, Jimmy Kimmel delivered a scathing anti-Trump alternative Christmas message for UK viewers on Channel 4 this week, saying: “from a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year”.
