"(Jacquelyn Martin | Credit: AP) Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell baselessly accused major news organizations of actively encouraging artists to boycott performances in protest of the institution's new Trump rebranding. Grenell, who President Donald Trump installed earlier this year as part of a board shake-up, claimed without evidence on Tuesday that outlets, including CNN and The Washington Post, were urging booked performers to cancel shows in response to the center's planned renaming as the Trump-Kennedy Center."
"I have just been informed by some booked artists that they are receiving emails from @CNN and @washingtonpost encouraging them to boycott the Trump Kennedy Center, Grenell wrote on X. The legacy media are left wing activists and they are open about it. I have just been informed by some booked artists that they are receiving emails from @CNN and The @washingtonpost encouraging them to boycott the Trump Kennedy Center. The legacy media are left wing activists and they are open about it. Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) December 30, 2025"
Richard Grenell accused outlets including CNN and The Washington Post of emailing booked artists to encourage boycotts of the renamed Trump-Kennedy Center, offering no evidence. Grenell repeated similar claims about The New York Times. The accusations follow a Trump-appointed board shake-up earlier in the year that installed Grenell as chair and sought to add Trump's name to the federally protected memorial. Several artists protested the center's politicization, with drummer Chuck Redd canceling a Christmas Eve show and jazz supergroup The Cookers pulling out of two New Year's Eve concerts. Grenell demanded $1 million in damages and called the cancellations political stunts.
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