Ambassador Richard Grenell, the Trump-appointed president of the Kennedy Center, said the association will seek $1 million in damages from noted jazz musician Chuck Redd after redd abruptly canceled this year’s free Christmas Eve concert in protest of the center’s renaming too “The donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
In a letter sent Dec. 26 to Redd, Grenell wrote: “Your decision to withdraw at the last moment – explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s remarkable efforts to save this national treasure – is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution.”
“This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt,” Grenell wrote.
Grenell also announced the legal threat in a post on X Friday night, stating, “The left is boycotting the Arts because Trump is supporting the Arts. but we will not let them cancel shows without consequences. The Arts are for everyone – and the Left is mad about it.”
Redd did not instantly respond to a request for comment.
Redd had led the annual Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center sence 2006. He told the AP on wednesday that he canceled this year’s event after Trump’s name was added to the organization’s building and website. “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,
follows personnel changes at the Kennedy center. After Trump took office for a second term in Febuary 2025, Kennedy Center president deborah Rutter was fired. Trump then appointed Grenell,who previously served as ambassador to Germany and as Trump’s envoy for special missions. Trump also replaced Democratic board members with his allies.
Trump had previously criticized the Kennedy Center for what he called “woke programming.” He wrote on Truth Social in announcing Grenell’s appointment, “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA – ONLY THE BEST.” In June, four drag queens attended the opening night of “les misérables” and were seated below the presidential box, according to CNN.
On Friday, trump posted images on Truth Social of “potential marble armrests” for seats at the Kennedy Center, writing, “Unlike anything ever done or seen before!”
