Kennedy Center row: Name change to Trump prompts concert cancellations; artists pull out

A fresh round of artist cancellations has hit the Kennedy Center after US President Donald Trump’s name was added to the iconic arts venue, intensifying a political and cultural controversy around one of America’s leading institutions.

The latest withdrawal came from the Cookers, a veteran jazz ensemble, which canceled two New Year’s Eve performances. In a statement quoted by Reuters, the group said, “Jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice. Some of us have been making this music for many decades, and that history still shapes us.”




The Cookers added that they wanted to ensure that, when they return to performing, “the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it,” and reaffirmed a commitment “to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than deepening them”.

The cancellation adds to a growing list since the Kennedy Center’s board voted to rename the venue The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled a Christmas Eve concert last week, while Doug Varone and Dancers, a New York-based dance company, withdrew from two April performances, saying it “can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution”, AP reported.

According to reuters, Richard Grenell, a longtime ally of Trump appointed as the center’s president, dismissed the withdrawals as politically motivated. He said the boycotts were a “form of derangement syndrome” and that the cancellations involved artists booked under the previous leadership.

In a statement quoted by AP, Grenell added that the “last minute cancellations prove that they were always unwilling to perform for everyone — even those they disagree with politically.”

One of the Cookers’ members, saxophonist Billy Harper, was also quoted by AP saying he “would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture”.

The name change was reportedly initiated by former White House personnel director and current US ambassador to India Sergio Gor. He raised the proposal at a board meeting that includes several Trump allies. The board comprises second lady Usha Vance, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick’s wife Allison Lutnick, chief of staff Susie Wiles, and Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo, among others aligned with the MAGA movement. US President Donald Trump was later elected chairman after board members appointed under the previous Biden administration were removed earlier this year.The board voted to rename the arts venue The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, or Trump Kennedy Center for short.

According to reuters, the Democrats have called the renaming illegal, while members of John F. Kennedy’s family have criticised it as undermining the late president’s legacy. The Kennedy Center was designated by Congress in 1964 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, and legal experts say any permanent change to its name would require congressional approval.