More Kennedy Center Performers Pull Out After Trump’s Name Change

At least three more events are no longer happening at the Kennedy Center after its board, which was handpicked by President Donald Trump, voted to rename the venue the Trump-Kennedy Center.

New York Dance Company Doug Varone and Dancers announced that they would no longer bring their pre-scheduled performance to the institution in protest of the decision to rename the arts center.

“It is financially devastating but morally exhilarating,” Varone told The New York Times in an email. (Varone did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.)

Also on Monday, the Kennedy Center’s website said two events set for New Year’s Eve by the Cookers had also been canceled. While jazz band the Cookers did not immediately share the reason for the show cancellation, it came after jazz star Chuck Redd canceled his annual free concert, originally scheduled for Christmas Eve.

Alabama folk singer Kristy Lee, who was set to perform a free show on Jan. 14, was also among the artists who pulled out. “I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts,” she said in a Instagram post last week. “This is how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck. When American history starts getting treated like something you can ban, erase, rename, or rebrand for somebody else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep right at night.”

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell said, “The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership. Their actions prove that the previous team was more concerned about booking far left political activists rather than artists willing to perform for everyone regardless of their political beliefs. Boycotting the Arts to show you support the Arts is a form of derangement syndrome.”

The new cancellations arrive several days after Grenell threatened to take legal action against Redd for canceling the Christmas Eve show, calling his letter to the musician an “official notice” that the center would seek $1 million in damages for the “political stunt.”

For more than 20 years, the Kennedy Center has hosted the Christmas Eve Jazz Jam, with Redd headlining the event since 2006. “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 AP on Dec. 24.
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The cancellations mark another round of protests against the Kennedy Center after at least 26 performances were canceled earlier this year, including 15 by the scheduled acts themselves, in protest of Trump’s self-appointment as chairman of the establishment. Issa Rae canceled a February show, citing “an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums.”

This article was updated at 11:30 p.m. ET to included a statement from Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell.