Two additional musical acts have cancelled upcoming performances at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center following a decision to rename the venue to include US President Donald Trump’s name.
Veteran jazz group The Cookers announced they would no longer perform two New Year’s Eve shows. While their statement did not directly reference either Trump or the Kennedy Center, the band said the decision had “come together very quickly.” Drummer Billy Hart later told the New York Times that the name change had played a role.
Dance company Doug Varone and Dancers also withdrew from two performances scheduled for April, saying they could no longer ask their audiences to enter what they described as a “once great institution” following the renaming.
Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell criticised the cancellations, calling them “a form of derangement syndrome.” He said the artists had been booked by the centre’s previous leadership and accused them of prioritising politics over performing for broad audiences.
In its statement, The Cookers emphasised jazz’s roots in freedom of expression and said the group wanted to perform in spaces where both the music and audiences could be fully celebrated.
Several other artists have cancelled shows in recent weeks. Folk singer Kristy Lee pulled out of a January performance, saying she could not support what she viewed as the erasure or rebranding of American history. Musician Chuck Redd also cancelled his long-running Christmas Eve concert, which he had hosted annually since 2006.
Grenell responded by demanding $1m (£740,000) in damages from Redd, describing the cancellation as a political act that caused significant financial loss to the venue.
Earlier this month, the Kennedy Center’s board — now largely composed of Trump allies — voted to rename the institution the Donald J Trump and the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. New signage was installed shortly afterward.
The move has sparked legal and political debate, with some lawmakers and legal scholars arguing that congressional approval is required because the centre was established and named under a 1964 federal law.
Members of former President John F Kennedy’s family have strongly criticised the change. Joe Kennedy III, a former congressman and the late president’s grandnephew, said the centre is a living memorial established by law and cannot be renamed unilaterally.
The Kennedy Center was originally named in honour of President Kennedy shortly after his assassination.
