Multiple Artists Cancel Kennedy Center Shows After Trustees Add Trump’s Name

The Kennedy Center has faced a wave of abrupt cancellations after its board of trustees voted to add President Donald J. Trump’s name to the institution, renaming it the The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The change — and the speed with which it was implemented on the website and building signage — prompted several performers to withdraw scheduled appearances and fueled legal and public backlash.

The Cookers, a jazz ensemble, announced they would no longer perform two New Year’s Eve shows. In a brief statement the group said they were unable to play as planned and reaffirmed their commitment to music that bridges divisions rather than deepening them. Drummer Billy Hart told The New York Times the renaming 'evidently' played a role and also cited concerns about possible retaliation.

Doug Varone and Dancers, a New York–based contemporary dance company, canceled performances slated for April, saying that 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.' Folk singer-songwriter Kristy Lee also withdrew a January 14 concert, writing on social media that she could not perform at a venue she felt was being repurposed to satisfy 'somebody else’s ego.'

The longtime host of the Kennedy Center’s Christmas Eve jazz show, Chuck Redd, also canceled his recent performance and said he was saddened by the name change after a career of performing at the center. In response, the center’s president, Richard Grenell, posted on X that the cancellations were 'a form of derangement syndrome' and blamed the previous leadership for booking politically engaged artists. The institution has said it will seek financial damages — citing a $1 million claim related to Redd’s cancellation.

These departures follow earlier resignations and canceled events after Trump’s handpicked board made him chair: cultural figures such as Issa Rae, Renée Fleming, Shonda Rhimes and Ben Folds resigned leadership roles or canceled events, and producer Jeffrey Seller pulled a planned run of Hamilton.

The renaming has generated legal challenges. Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio trustee of the board, sued in federal court to block the change, alleging procedural irregularities — including being muted on Zoom as she tried to object — and arguing that the rushed vote and rapid addition of signage resembled authoritarian tactics rather than democratic process.

Members of the Kennedy family criticized the decision as well. Joe Kennedy III called the center a living memorial named by federal law for President John F. Kennedy and said it cannot be renamed any more than the Lincoln Memorial.

The controversy has put the center at the center of a broader debate about politics in public cultural institutions, the authority of governing boards, and the rights of artists to refuse performances when institutional actions conflict with their principles.

'We remain committed to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than deepening them,' the Cookers said in their statement.