Overview
- In a Dec. 26 letter, Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell told jazz musician Chuck Redd the institution will seek $1 million in damages for canceling his Christmas Eve Jazz Jam.
- Grenell labeled the withdrawal a political stunt, cited costs, low ticket sales and donor support, and praised Trump for “saving” the center in his role as chairman.
- Redd said he canceled after the center updated its website and added exterior signage reading “The Trump Kennedy Center” following the board’s Dec. 18 vote.
- Rep. Joyce Beatty filed a lawsuit on Dec. 22 arguing the 1964 law creating the center as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy bars adding another person’s name without Congress.
- Reports say other performers, including Issa Rae and Lin-Manuel Miranda, have pulled out of appearances, and Grenell posted that cancellations would not occur “without consequences.”