Overview
- Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell sent a letter to Chuck Redd seeking $1 million in damages after Redd canceled the annual Christmas Eve Jazz Jam in protest.
- Redd, who has hosted the event since 2006, said he withdrew after seeing the new dual name posted on the center’s website and then on the building façade.
- The board recently added the displayed name The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to the institution and updated signage and the website.
- Representative Joyce Beatty has filed a legal challenge arguing only an act of Congress can change the name of the federally designated memorial.
- Trump allies now lead the board, programming has shifted toward conservative and religious events, and U.S. reports indicate ticket sales have declined.