At least three more events no longer occur in the Kennedy Center after its board of directors, which was personally chosen by the president donald trumpvoted for change the name of the place the Trump-Kennedy Center.
The New York Dance Company Doug Varone and Dancers announced they would no longer bring their previously scheduled performance to the institution in protest of the decision to change the name of the arts center.
“It is financially devastating but morally stimulating,” Varone said The New York Times in an email. (Varone did not immediately respond to rolling stonerequest for comments.)
Also on Monday, the Kennedy Center’s website said two events scheduled by the Cookers for New Year’s Eve had also been canceled. While jazz band The Cookers did not immediately share the reason for the show’s cancellation, it came after jazz star Chuck Redd canceled his annual free concert, originally scheduled for Christmas Eve.
Alabama folk singer Kristy Lee, who was scheduled to perform a free show on Jan. 14, was also among the artists who pulled out. “I’m not going to lie to you, canceling shows hurts,” he said. in an Instagram post last week. “That’s how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck. When American history starts being treated like something that can be banned, erased, renamed, or rebranded for someone else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep well at night.”
In a statement to rolling stoneKennedy Center President Richard Grenell said: “The artists who are now canceling shows were hired by the previous far-left leadership. Their actions prove that the previous team was more concerned with hiring far-left political activists than artists willing to perform for everyone, regardless of their political beliefs. Boycotting the arts to show support for the arts is a form of derangement syndrome.”
The new cancellations come several days after Grenell threatened legal action against Redd for canceling the Christmas Eve show, calling his letter to the musician an “official notice” that the center would seek $1 million in damages for the “political stunt.”
For more than 20 years, the Kennedy Center has hosted the Christmas Eve Jazz Jam, with Redd headlining the event since 2006. “When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center’s website and then hours later in the building, I decided to cancel our concert,” Redd said. the AP on December 24.
The cancellations mark another round of protests against the Kennedy Center after at least 26 performances were canceled earlier this year, including 15 for the scheduled events themselves, protesting Trump’s self-appointment as establishment president. Issa Rae canceled a show in February, citing “a breach of the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds and across all media.”
This article was updated at 11:30 pm ET to include a statement from Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell.
