Kennedy Center’s name change costs it New Year’s shows and credibility

When you turn a memorial into a gross monument, don’t be surprised when artists walk away.

Kennedy Center (Matthew Hodgkins/shutterstock.com)

What was once America’s premier cultural shrine, the Kennedy Center, has become ground zero for an arts rebellion after its trustees voted to slap Trump’s name onto the building. In the latest blowback, a pair of highly anticipated New Year’s Eve concerts were canceled, adding to the growing list of performers who would rather pull their shows than play at the rebranded venue to appease a man-baby center.

Prior to announcing the shows’ cancellation, Billy Harper, a saxophonist in The Cookers, posted on Facebook that he would “never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture.” He added, “… After all the years I spent working with some of the greatest heroes of the anti-racism fight like Max Roach and Randy Weston and Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Stanley Cowell, I know they would be turning in their graves to see me stand on a stage under such circumstances and betray all we fought for, and sacrificed for.”

Along with The Cookers, two other Kennedy Center performers have called off their scheduled gigs in recent days. Doug Varone and Dancers said they would no longer appear at the venue in April, while folk singer Kristy Lee pulled the plug on a show set for mid-January.

These cancellations follow jazz musician Chuck Redd’s decision earlier this month to scrap his annual Christmas concert at the Kennedy Center in protest of its name change. In response, the venue’s president, Kennedy Center president Rick Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages from Redd over what he deemed to be a “political stunt.”

Consequence

This is not some fringe sentiment. Artists across multiple genres have withdrawn or declined to participate as the controversy grows. Some cite jazz’s roots in resistance and freedom, others see the move as eroding the cultural center’s nonpartisan identity. Meanwhile, the center’s President, Rick Grenell, is threatening to file suit. Good luck attracting talent with that.