{"id":8775,"date":"2025-12-30T16:20:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T16:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/30\/more-performing-artists-cancel-kennedy-center-gigs-after-trumps-name-is-added-to-arts-venue-deadline\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T16:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T16:20:12","slug":"more-performing-artists-cancel-kennedy-center-gigs-after-trumps-name-is-added-to-arts-venue-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/30\/more-performing-artists-cancel-kennedy-center-gigs-after-trumps-name-is-added-to-arts-venue-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"More Performing Artists Cancel Kennedy Center Gigs After Trump\u2019s Name Is Added To Arts Venue – Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tMore musicians have cancelled planned concerts at the Kennedy Center<\/a> following the decision by its Donald Trump<\/a>-controlled board to add the president\u2019s name to the arts institution.<\/p>\n

\tThe Cookers<\/a>, a jazz ensemble, said in a statement that they \u201care unable to perform as planned on New Year\u2019s Eve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn a statement, the group did not mention the name change, but said, \u201cJazz 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. We are not turning away from our audience, and do want to make sure that when we do return to the bandstand, the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it. \t<\/p>\n

\t\u201cOur hope is that this moment will leave space for reflection, not resentment.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\tWatch on Deadline\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tBilly Hart, the band\u2019s drummer, told The New York Times that the name change \u201cevidently\u201d played a role in the decision to cancel.<\/p>\n

\tAnother group, Doug Varone and Dancers, said that it was cancelling April performances because of the name change.<\/p>\n

\tIn a statement on Instagram, the group wrote, \u201cWhile we totally disagreed with the takeover by the Trump Administration at the Kennedy Center, we still believed it was important to honor our engagement out of respect for both Jane Raleigh and Alicia Adams, who curated a first-rate dance season, as well as for the dance audiences in DC.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHowever, with the latest act of Donald J. Trump renaming the Center after himself, we can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution. The Kennedy Center was named in honor of our 35th President who fervently believed that the arts were the beating heart of our nation, as well as an integral part of international diplomacy. We hope in three-year\u2019s time, that the Center and its reputation will return to that glory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe board of the Kennedy Center voted earlier this month to add Trump\u2019s name to the center, even though it was designated as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by a 1964 act of Congress. \t<\/p>\n

\tLast week, musician Chuck Redd pulled out of a planned Christmas Eve concert, leading to the threat of a lawsuit <\/a>from the Kennedy Center\u2019s president, Richard Grenell<\/a>. Another performer, Kristy Lee, canceled <\/a>a planned performance on Jan. 14.<\/p>\n

\tAfter the latest cancellations, Grenell wrote on X, \u201cThe artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership. Their actions prove that the previous team was more concerned about booking far left political activists rather than artists willing to perform for everyone regardless of their political beliefs. Boycotting the Arts to show you support the Arts is a form of derangement syndrome. The arts are for everyone and the left is mad about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe board of the Kennedy Center was set to be split almost evenly between appointees of previous Democratic administrations and Trump in his first term. But weeks after taking office for a second term, Trump fired board members appointed by Joe Biden and Barack Obama. With his loyalists dominating the board, Trump was named chairman of the center. <\/p>\n

\tCongress also designates ex officio members of the board, who remain. One Democrat, Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, filed suit <\/a>earlier this month to remove Trump\u2019s name from the center. Her lawsuit claimed that changing the name of the center can only be done by an act of Congress.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More musicians have cancelled planned concerts at the Kennedy Center following the decision by its Donald Trump-controlled board to add the president\u2019s name to the arts institution. The Cookers, a jazz ensemble, said in a statement that they \u201care unable to perform as planned on New Year\u2019s Eve.\u201d In a statement, the group did not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8775","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\/8775","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=8775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}