Overview
- President Richard Grenell sent a letter to longtime host Chuck Redd calling his cancellation a political stunt and said the center will seek $1 million in damages.
- Redd said he pulled the plug after the venue’s website and, a day later, its facade displayed the new Trump Kennedy Center branding.
- Rep. Joyce Beatty has filed a federal lawsuit arguing the board exceeded its authority under the 1964 law that created the Kennedy Center as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy.
- The White House claims the board vote was unanimous, while Beatty says she was muted during the meeting and did not support the change.
- Backlash continues as artists cancel or distance themselves, CBS prefaced its Honors broadcast with the new name, and a satirist secured trumpkennedycenter.com and .org.