More artists cancel performances at the Kennedy Center after Trump’s name was added to the building

Other artists have canceled their scheduled performances at the Kennedy Center following the addition of US President Donald Trump’s name to the venue, with jazz supergroup The Cookers pulling out of a planned New Year’s Eve concert.

The new round of cancellations after Trump put his name on the building follows a backlash from artists in the spring. After Trump ousted the Kennedy Center board and named himself president of the institution in February, artist Issa Rae and producers of Hamilton canceled planned engagements, while musicians Ben Folds and Renee Fleming stepped down from their advisory roles.

The new council voted to add Trump’s name to the buildingformerly known as John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, earlier this month. The building’s full name is now Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

The Cookers, a jazz supergroup that has been playing together for nearly two decades, has announced its withdrawal from A jazz New Year’s Eve on their website, saying “the decision was made very quickly” and acknowledging the frustration of those who might have planned to attend.

The band did not mention the building’s renaming or the Trump administration, but said that when they return to the stage, they want to make sure “the venue is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it,” reiterating their commitment “to playing music that transcends divisions rather than deepens them.”

One of the group members, however, openly addressed the issue of the name change. On Saturday, saxophonist Billy Harper said in comments posted to the Jazz Stage Facebook page that he “wouldn’t even consider performing at a venue with a name (and being controlled by some kind of board of directors) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture. The same music I have dedicated my life to creating and advancing.”

According to the White House, Trump’s hand-picked board approved the name change. Harper said the board, “along with the name displayed on the building itself, represents a mentality and practices that I have always opposed. And I still do, now more than ever.”

The jazz group’s decision comes after a few other artists pulled out of their concerts in recent days. Folk singer Kristy Lee announced on social networks she had canceled a performance scheduled for January, saying that performing there would mean losing her integrity.

Doug Varone and Dancers, a New York dance company, also said on social media On Monday, they would no longer perform as planned in April because adding Trump’s name to the building was a bridge too far.

Richard Grenell, a Trump ally whom the president chose to lead the Kennedy Center after ousting previous leadership, posted Monday evening on Xstating: “Artists who are now canceling their shows were booked by previous far-left leaders.”

In a statement to The Associated Press, Grenell said Tuesday that “the last-minute cancellations prove they still weren’t willing to perform in front of everyone — even those with whom they disagreed politically.”

He added that the Kennedy Center has been “flooded with requests from real artists who are willing to perform in front of everyone and who reject political statements in their art.”

Kennedy Center officials were not immediately informed whether the entity would take legal action against the jazz group, as Grenell announced after musician Chuck Redd canceled a Christmas Eve concert.

Redd cited the building’s name change as justification for its removal. Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages from Redd for what he called a “political stunt.”

Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year designating the center as his living memorial. The researchers said any change in the building’s name would require congressional approval; the law explicitly prohibits the board of directors from making the center a memorial to anyone and from inscribing another person’s name on the exterior of the building.