""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," the venue's president, Richard Grenell, wrote in a letter to musician Chuck Redd that was shared with The Associated Press. In the letter, Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages "for this political stunt.""
""When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert," Redd said. He added Wednesday that the event has been a "very popular holiday tradition" and that he often featured at least one student musician. "One of the many reasons that it was very sad to have had to cancel," he told the AP."
Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, condemned musician Chuck Redd for canceling a Christmas Eve performance after the White House announced President Trump's name would be added to the facility. Grenell characterized the withdrawal as intolerance, called it costly to the nonprofit arts institution, and said he would seek $1 million in damages for what he called a "political stunt." Chuck Redd said he canceled after seeing the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then on the building. Redd has led holiday "Jazz Jams" at the Center since 2006 and often featured student musicians. The renaming followed a White House statement that a Trump‑handpicked board approved the change.
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