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Trump's Kennedy Center ally hits musician with $1M demand over Christmas Eve cancelation [View all]
This lawsuit will be interesting to follow. The artist contracted to perform in the Kennedy Center and that name no longer exists.
Trump's Kennedy Center ally hits musician with M demand over Christmas Eve cancelation
— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2025-12-27T02:00:41.533Z
https://www.rawstory.com/kennedy-center-2674831343
The president of the Kennedy Center’s board is once again lashing out at critics of President Donald Trump – this time targeting a veteran jazz musician who abruptly canceled a Christmas Eve performance following the center’s MAGA-style renaming to the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”
Richard Grenell, a Trump ally who has led the board since February, blasted musician Chuck Redd after the drummer and vibraphonist withdrew from his long-running holiday “Jazz Jams” performance at the venue, a tradition he has overseen since 2006, Politico reported Friday.
In a sharply worded letter shared with The Associated Press, Grenell accused Redd of engaging in “classic intolerance” and called the cancellation a “political stunt” that he claimed would cause significant financial harm to the nonprofit arts institution.
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” Grenell wrote in the letter, adding that he intends to seek $1 million in damages over the last-minute withdrawal.
Redd told the AP on the day of his scheduled performance that he canceled the performance after seeing Trump’s name added to the building and website.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd said, as reported by Politico.
Richard Grenell, a Trump ally who has led the board since February, blasted musician Chuck Redd after the drummer and vibraphonist withdrew from his long-running holiday “Jazz Jams” performance at the venue, a tradition he has overseen since 2006, Politico reported Friday.
In a sharply worded letter shared with The Associated Press, Grenell accused Redd of engaging in “classic intolerance” and called the cancellation a “political stunt” that he claimed would cause significant financial harm to the nonprofit arts institution.
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” Grenell wrote in the letter, adding that he intends to seek $1 million in damages over the last-minute withdrawal.
Redd told the AP on the day of his scheduled performance that he canceled the performance after seeing Trump’s name added to the building and website.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd said, as reported by Politico.
If this case goes to trial before a DC jury, it will be fun to see what happens.
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