Trump’s Kennedy Center Chief Threatens Jazz Musician With $1M Suit Over Canceled Christmas Gig
Protestors gather outside the Kennedy Center after the board's decision to rename the institution to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.Imago via ZUMA Press
The president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is threatening legal action against a jazz musician who cancelled his Christmas Eve performance after the institution’s board of trustees, handpicked by President Donald Trump, voted last week to change the name of the performing arts institution.
The letter from Richard Grenell, the Kennedy Center president, to Chuck Redd, a drum and vibraphone player, says that they will seek $1 million in damages for “this political stunt.”
“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,” the letter, shared to the Associated Press, reads, “is classic intolerance.” And, Grenell continues, “Your action surrenders to the sad bullying tactics employed by certain elements on the left, who have sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances.”
“Your action surrenders to the sad........
