Just before Christmas, an act that had performed at the Kennedy Center for years canceled future engagements, citing the recent addition of Trump to the venue's name as the reason.
The Kennedy Center is now suing the artist, but that spurred a wave of more cancellations.
Well, it turns out that while many are blaming Trump for the situation, the fact that the addition of his name to the building is unlikely to be the real reason some of these acts cancelled.
Chuck Redd has been performing at the Kennedy Center for years in what has become a family tradition for many people.
This year, however, he canceled at the last minute, throwing a fit over the fact that the board of the Kennedy Center had decided to add Trump’s name to the building.
He stated, "When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert.”
This was the first time in nearly two decades that he would not be performing at the venue on the date in question. The move would also set off a wave of reactions, ranging from the Kennedy Center suing Redd to other artists deciding to cancel their concerts as well.
The cancellation clearly inconvenienced a lot of people and disappointed others, and it turned the holiday into a political football. The Kennedy Center decided to take action not long after.
Richard Grenell, appointed to the board by Trump, notified Redd that the Center would be litigating the cancellation, writing, “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.”
He continued, “Regrettably, your action surrenders to the sad bullying tactics employed by certain elements on the left, who have sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances at our national cultural center.”
The letter concluded, “Your dismal ticket sales and lack of donor support, combined with your last-minute cancellation has cost us considerably. This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt.”
The list of cancellations has grown considerably since then, with The Cookers, Kristy Lee, and Doug Varone and Dancers having also notified the Kennedy Center that they will not be performing due to the name change.
Varone confirmed, “Yes, we did cancel because of the name change.” Billy Harper of The Cookers posted to Facebook that he “would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture.”
The Cookers had reportedly only sold 60 tickets for their show. Chuck Redd’s show was reportedly free, but only 64 people had registered in advance to attend. Numbers for the other shows were not posted.
This all looks like grandstanding to get headlines for standing up to Trump when it was really nothing more than bailing out shows that would have seen the artists playing in front of a largely empty house. Things are not always what they appear to be, my friends.
