After President Donald Trump put his name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a growing number of artists have been calling off their performances — even to their own financial detriment.
The New York Times reported Monday that the Kennedy Center is seeing an exodus of acts from its 2026 schedule after the president had his name affixed above Kennedy's on the front of the building. Jazz group The Cookers pulled out of a planned New Years' Eve performance and issued the statement: "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's drummer, Billy Hart, told the Times that Trump changing the name "evidently" played a role in the decision to cancel the show. He added that The Cookers were concerned about potential reprisal from the Trump administration.
The possibility of a response from the president is not out of the question, given that Kennedy Center president and executive director Richard Grenell (who was Trump's acting director of national intelligence during his first administration) has announced plans to sue guitarist Chuck Redd for $1 million after he canceled a Christmas Eve performance.
"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," Grenell wrote in a letter to Redd. "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."
In addition to Redd and The Cookers, dance company Doug Varone and Dancers canceled two performances in April that would have generated $40,000 in income. Founder Doug Varone called the decision "financially devastating but morally exhilarating."
Alabama-based folk singer Kristy Lee is also calling off a free concert she was scheduled to play at the Kennedy Center on January 14. In a recent post to her Instagram account, Lee wrote: "I believe in the power of truth, and I believe in the power of people. And I’m gonna stand on that side forever."
"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," she wrote. "When American history starts getting treated like something you can ban, erase, rename, or rebrand for somebody else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep right at night."
"America didn’t get built by branding. It got built by people showing up and doing the work. And the folks who carry it don’t need their name on it, they just show up," Lee added. "That's all I'm doing here. I'm showing up."
Click here to read the New York Times' full article in its entirety.