By Stephen Sloan, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of the Kennedy Center on Friday sharply criticized a musician’s surprise decision to go there Christmas Eve performance cancelled On the spot after the White House announced that President Donald Trump The name will be added To the facility.
“Your decision to withdraw at the last minute — clearly in response to the center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic and extremely costly bigotry for a nonprofit arts institution,” the venue’s president, Richard Grenell, wrote in a letter to musician Chuck Reed that was shared with The Associated Press.
Grenell said in the letter that he would seek $1 million in compensation “for this political stunt.”
Reed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reid is a drummer and vibraphonist who has headlined the Kennedy Center’s holiday “Jazz Jams” since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts. In an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Reid said he withdrew from the ceremony in the wake of the renaming.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and hours later in the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Reed said.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him.
According to the White House, Trump’s select board of directors approved the decision RenameThis is what scholars said is against the law. Kennedy’s niece, Kerry Kennedy, has pledged to remove Trump’s name from the building once he leaves office, and former House historian Ray Smoak is among those who say any changes must be approved by Congress.
The law expressly prohibits The Board of Trustees is prohibited from turning the Center into a memorial to anyone else, and from placing someone else’s name on the exterior of the building.
Associated Press writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report.