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a long standing Christmas Eve Jazz concert in Washington, DC kennedy center has been cancelled, with its host citing the controversial addition of Donald Trump’s name to the iconic performing arts venue.
Musician Chuck Redd, who led the holidays legacy For more than two decades, it was closed Display Following the announcement by the White House last week chairmanThe name will be pasted on the building.
As of last Friday, the facade of the facility now reads “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
The White House said a board selected by the president approved the decision, although scholars argue it violates existing law. Trump had reportedly been advocating the name change for months.
Redd, a renowned drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with great jazz artists such as Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Brown, has hosted “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006. He explained his decision in an email: “When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then in the building a few hours later, I decided to cancel my concert.”
The Kennedy Center has not yet responded to requests for comment, although its website confirms the show’s cancellation.
The center was established in 1963 by President John F. It was established as a living memorial to Kennedy after his assassination, with Congress passing a law the following year.
This law explicitly prohibits the Board of Trustees from designating the center as a memorial to someone else or placing the name of another person on its exterior.
Kennedy’s niece, Kerry Kennedy, has promised to clear Trump’s name after he leaves office, while former House historian Ray Smock is among those insisting that any such change would require congressional approval.
Trump has become deeply aligned with the center, a sharp contrast to his early tenure, where he largely ignored it.
He has changed its leadership, reorganized the board and led it himself, and, breaking with long-standing tradition, personally hosted this year’s Kennedy Center Honors. These changes are reportedly part of the President’s broader campaign against “woke” culture within federal cultural institutions.
Artists including Issa Rae, Peter Wolf and lin-manuel mirandaThe same people who canceled the planned production of “Hamilton” have also pulled out of the Kennedy Center performance since Donald Trump returned to office.