US Politics
Kennedy Center president claims ‘legacy media’ is encouraging artists to boycott performances over Trump name change
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Media outlets including CNN and The Washington Post are accused of encouraging artists to cancel performances at the Kennedy Center, while publications includingThe New York Times are celebrating a string of recent cancellations, Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell has claimed without evidence across a series of X posts in recent days.
“I have just been informed by some booked artists that they are receiving emails from [CNN] and [The Washington Post] encouraging them to boycott the Trump Kennedy Center,” Grenell wrote on X Tuesday. “The legacy media are left wing activists – and they are open about it.”
In a post the previous day, Grenell claimed, again without evidence, that The NYT is “celebrating people boycotting the Arts.”
The Independent has contacted the Kennedy Center, CNN, the Post, and The NYT for comment.
The posts prompted critics of the president and his allies to demand evidence of the alleged emails, which would violate journalistic norms of neutrality.
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“This should be easy enough to prove….” CNN commentator and former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger wrote on X.
Grenell’s claims come after a series of artists have canceled upcoming dates at the center in protest of President Donald Trump’s takeover and recent, potentially illegal attempt to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Jazz supergroup The Cookers announced on its website it will not be performing across a series of two New Year’s Eve concerts.
“Jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice,” the group wrote in a statement. “Some of us have been making this music for many decades, and that history still shapes us.”
“I 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,” Billy Harper, a saxophonist in the group, reportedly added in a statement to Jazz Stage.
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The Doug Varone and Dancers troupe on Monday added that it will not carry out a planned April performance at the center.
“We can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution,” the statement said, adding, “We hope in three-year’s time, that the Center and its reputation will return to that glory.”
The wave of cancellations follows the news that drummer and vibraphonist Chuck Redd canceled a longstanding Christmas Eve jazz concert at the center in protest of the name change.
In response, the head of the Kennedy Center has demanded $1 million from Redd, calling the move a “political stunt.”
In February, Trump broke with the center’s bipartisan tradition and installed a new series of MAGA-friendly board members, who quickly named him chairman of the center.
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Earlier this month, the board claimed to vote unanimously to have changed the name of the center to the Trump-Kennedy Center. Some observers say this is not legal, and a congresswoman on a call about the decision said she was muted and not allowed to voice her criticisms.
The Trump administration has brushed off criticism of the move, including from Kennedy’s family members, arguing it saved the arts institution from falling into disrepair.
Since Trump took over, ticket sales were in fact the worst they’ve been in years, according to a Washington Post analysis from October.
Last week, Trump became the first president to host the Kennedy Center Honors, which reportedly saw viewership plunge by 35 percent compared to last year.
