{"id":8664,"date":"2025-12-27T15:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/27\/trump-kennedy-center-threatens-1m-lawsuit-against-jazz-musician-variety\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T15:00:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T15:00:44","slug":"trump-kennedy-center-threatens-1m-lawsuit-against-jazz-musician-variety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/27\/trump-kennedy-center-threatens-1m-lawsuit-against-jazz-musician-variety\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Kennedy Center Threatens $1M Lawsuit Against Jazz Musician – Variety"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tAmbassador Richard Grenell, the Trump-appointed president of the Kennedy Center<\/a>, said the organization will seek $1 million in damages from noted jazz musician Chuck Redd after Redd abruptly canceled this year\u2019s free Christmas Eve concert in protest of the center\u2019s renaming to \u201cThe Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn the letter sent Dec. 26 to Redd, first reported by the AP<\/a>, Grenell wrote: \u201cYour decision to withdraw at the last moment \u2014 explicitly in response to the Center\u2019s recent renaming, which honors President Trump\u2019s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure \u2014 is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt,\u201d Grenell wrote. <\/p>\n

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\t\t\tPopular on Variety\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tIn a post on X Friday night<\/a> about his legal threat to Redd, Grenell said, \u201cThe left is boycotting the Arts because Trump is supporting the Arts. But we will not let them cancel shows without consequences. The Arts are for everyone \u2014 and the Left is mad about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tRedd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\tRedd had led the annual Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center since 2006. On Wednesday, he told the AP<\/a> that he nixed this year\u2019s event after Trump\u2019s name was added to the organization\u2019s building and website. \u201cWhen I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,\u201d Redd said, per the AP.<\/p>\n

\tWorkers on Dec. 19 added Trump\u2019s name to the center, coming one day after the White House claimed that the Kennedy Center board of trustees \u2014 handpicked by President Trump \u2014\u00a0voted unanimously to rename the facility the \u201cTrump Kennedy Center.\u201d<\/a> \t<\/p>\n

\tLegal experts say the renaming of the center is illegal, because a 1964 federal law established its name as \u201cThe John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts\u201d after the slain president and explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from adding any other name to the building\u2019s exterior. On Monday (Dec. 22), U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) sued Trump<\/a> and the Kennedy Center\u2019s board seeking to force the removal of Trump\u2019s name from the organization, saying an act of Congress is required to change its name.<\/p>\n

\tThe free Dec. 24 concert at the Kennedy Center had been scheduled to take place Tuesday at 12 p.m. at the center\u2019s Millennium Stage. \u201cJoin in our annual Christmas Eve Jazz Jam for an evening of music that\u2019ll fill you with holiday cheer,\u201d the cultural center had said in promoting the event.<\/p>\n

\tRedd, 67, is \u201cwell known internationally as a performer on drums and vibraphone\u201d and is featured on more than 80 recordings, according to his website. The musician began recording and touring at the age of 21 when he joined the Charlie Byrd Trio. He also became a member of the Great Guitars (Barney Kessel, Byrd and Herb Ellis) and served as artist-in-residence at the Smithsonian Jazz Caf\u00e9 in Washington, D.C., from 2004-08. Redd also was a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra for 15 years.<\/p>\n

\tAfter Trump took office for a second term in February 2025, Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter was fired. Trump then appointed Grenell, who was ambassador to Germany during the first Trump administration and had served as Trump\u2019s envoy for special missions. Trump also ousted Democratic board members of the Kennedy Center and replaced them with his own allies.<\/p>\n

\tTrump had criticized the Kennedy Center for curating woke programming. \u201cNO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA \u2014 ONLY THE BEST,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social in announcing Grenell\u2019s appointment. At the Kennedy Center\u2019s\u00a0opening night of \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d in June, four drag queens attended the performance and were seated below the presidential box, CNN reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\tSeparately Friday, Trump posted images on Truth Social of \u201cpotential marble armrests\u201d for seats at the Kennedy Center. \u201cUnlike anything ever done or seen before!\u201d the president wrote.<\/p>\n

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Ambassador Richard Grenell, the Trump-appointed president of the Kennedy Center, said the organization will seek $1 million in damages from noted jazz musician Chuck Redd after Redd abruptly canceled this year\u2019s free Christmas Eve concert in protest of the center\u2019s renaming to \u201cThe Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}