Kennedy Center Christmas Eve Jazz Concert Canceled After Trump Name Added

A Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a holiday tradition for more than 20 years, was canceled after its host objected to the addition of President Donald Trump’s name to the building, according to The Associated Press as carried by NBC News and CBS News, and to ABC News, whose own reporter confirmed the cancellation and the center’s response.

The host, drummer and vibraphone player Chuck Redd, told the AP that he called off the show after the White House announced the week before that Trump’s name would be added to the center. “When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” he said in an email on Wednesday, Dec. 24. The AP reported that Redd, who has toured with musicians including Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Brown, has led the center’s holiday “Jazz Jams” since 2006.

According to the White House, the president’s board approved renaming the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. NBC News reported that the building’s facade now reads “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” The AP reported that scholars say the change violates the law: Congress named the center a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy in 1964, and CBS News (carrying AP text) noted that the statute bars the board from adding other memorials. Ray Smock, a former House historian, is among those who say Congress must approve any change, NBC News reported.

The center’s leadership responded sharply. Roma Daravi, its vice president for public relations, said in a statement that any artist canceling a show at the Trump Kennedy Center “over political differences isn’t courageous or principled.” In a letter to Redd, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell called the cancellation a “political stunt,” said the Jazz Jams have had “dismal ticket sales,” and said the center plans to seek $1 million in damages, CBS News and ABC News reported.

The renaming has drawn criticism from congressional Democrats and some members of the Kennedy family. Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat, sued over the change on Monday, calling it a “flagrant violation of the rule of law” and noting the name cannot be changed without an act of Congress, CBS News reported; ABC News also reported the suit. Kerry Kennedy, President Kennedy’s niece, has vowed to remove Trump’s name once he leaves office, according to the AP.

The Kennedy Center’s website lists the show as canceled, according to both outlets.