Artists Flee Kennedy Center After Trump Name Change |
President Donald Trump has sought to remake the storied John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in his image, stocking the board of trustees with allies who later green-lit the addition of his name to the center and personally serving as the host for its annual marquee program, the Kennedy Center Honors.
Trump’s increasing control of the Kennedy Center led some artists to disassociate themselves from the institution earlier this year. Now there’s been a new wave of cancellations in response to the “Trump-Kennedy Center” renaming earlier this month, thinning out the center’s typically full holiday calendar.
This week, the Cookers, a veteran jazz group, announced the cancellation of its two planned New Year’s Eve shows at the Kennedy Center. In a statement posted to the band’s website, the Cookers did not specifically mention the president or the recent changes at the Kennedy Center, but said the decision to........