Artists cancel performances at Trump-Kennedy Center, citing ‘takeover’ by Trump administration

(WASHINGTON) — Several artists have cancelled their upcoming performances at the newly renamed Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., publicly voicing their opposition to President Donald Trump’s name being added to the signage of the building last week.

Jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled his Christmas Eve event, while jazz group The Cookers announced on social media that they will be cancelling their New Year’s Eve performance at the cultural center.

On Monday evening, Doug Varone and Dancers, a New York dance company, announced in an Instagram post that it was canceling its scheduled April performances.

Posting an image of the official portrait of late President John F. Kennedy, Doug Varone and Dancers wrote that it was an “honor” to be invited to perform, but the group “totally disagreed with the takeover by the Trump Administration at the Kennedy Center.”

” … 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 statement said, in part.

“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’s time, that the Center and its reputation will return to that glory,” the statement continued.

After the renaming last week, folk singer Kristy Lee announced in an Instagram post that she is canceling a free performance scheduled for Jan. 14 at the center.

“I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts. This is how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck,” Lee wrote in the post.

Richard Grenell, the Trump-appointed president of the Trump-Kennedy Center, criticized the recent cancellations in a Monday evening X post, where he cast the musicians as “far left political activists.”

“The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership,” Grenell wrote.

“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,” he added.

Grenell also indicated in a letter addressed to Redd, who canceled his Christmas Eve show, that the center plans to file a $1 million lawsuit against the jazz musician and called the move a “political stunt.”

It is unclear if Redd has obtained legal representation. ABC News reached out to him for comment.

The cancellations came after the Trump administration announced on Dec. 18 that the board at the Kennedy Center, which Trump now chairs and is newly filled with his appointees, voted “unanimously” to rename the building the “Trump-Kennedy Center.” The signage was updated a day later.

The national cultural center, which is located on the banks of the Potomac River, was originally named the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to honor the late president, and it first opened its doors on Sept. 8, 1971.

Trump, who was sworn in for his second term as president on Jan. 20, dismissed most of the Board of Trustees during his first weeks back in office and replaced them with his own appointees. In February 2025, the new board announced that they had elected Trump as chairman.

Several musicians also cancelled performances or engagements at the Center earlier this year after Trump was elected as chair.

The artists who cancelled shows over the past year include musician Rhiannon Giddens, rock band Low Cut Connie and actor Issa Rae. Meanwhile, musician Ben Folds resigned from his role as the adviser to the center’s National Symphony Orchestra and producer Shonda Rhimes resigned as treasurer of the Kennedy Center’s board.

Singer and actress Renée Fleming also resigned from her role as artistic advisor at large after Trump purged the Center’s leadership. Fleming is scheduled to perform at the Trump-Kennedy Center in May 2026.

Writer Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical “Hamilton,” which was scheduled for a run at the Kennedy Center in the spring of 2026, was canceled back in March.

“We have sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed,” the show’s producer Jeffrey Seller wrote in a statement posted to Facebook.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a social media post that the board voted to rename the center “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.”

The post appears to refer to recent restorations and renovations that were touted by Trump during his speech at the Kennedy Center Honors dinner on Dec. 7.

House Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who serves as an ex officio member of the center’s board, sued Trump on Monday, arguing that the board’s vote to rename the building was illegal because an act of Congress is required for such an action.

Asked for comment on the lawsuit, White House spokesperson Liz Huston instead told ABC News in a statement on Monday that the Kennedy Center’s board voted to rename it after Trump “stepped up and saved the old Kennedy Center.”

ABC News’ Chad Murray, Hannah Demissie, Isabella Murray, Michelle Stoddart, Karen Travers, Lauren Peller and Alex Ederson contributed to this report.