A jazz concert planned for Christmas Eve at the Kennedy Center has been called off. This happened shortly after the announcement that President Trump’s name would be added to the well-known arts building in Washington, D.C.
Chuck Redd, the musician who was supposed to host the holiday “Jazz Jams,” has been doing so at the Kennedy Center since 2006. He said he decided to cancel his show after seeing Trump’s name added to the building.
Redd told the Associated Press that once he saw the name change on the Kennedy Center’s website and then on the building itself, he chose to cancel the concert.
The Kennedy Center’s website now shows the show as canceled.
Back on December 18th, the Kennedy Center’s board voted to rename the place the “Trump-Kennedy Center.” This decision didn’t sit well with some members of the Kennedy family, who felt it hurt President John F. Kennedy’s legacy.
Maria Shriver, Kennedy’s niece, said she couldn’t understand the decision.
Last week, workers put Trump’s name on the outside of the building, and the website’s name was changed to “The Trump Kennedy Center.”
Another of Kennedy’s nieces, Kerry Kennedy, has promised to remove Trump’s name from the building after he is no longer in office.
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed a law that made the center a living memorial to Kennedy after he was killed in 1963. The law says that the board can’t make the center a memorial to anyone else or put another person’s name on the building’s outside.
Trump became the chairman of the Kennedy Center board in February, after removing 18 trustees who had been appointed by former President Biden.
Since President Trump returned to office on January 20, some artists have canceled their performances at the Kennedy Center.
Chuck Redd has traveled the world and played with many famous musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie.
