Kennedy Center Chair Seeks $1M From Musician Who Canceled Donald Trump’s Christmas Eve Show

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell is seeking damages from Chuck Redd, the jazz musician who canceled his Christmas Eve Jazz Jam concert at the venue.

• The longtime Jazz Jam host was canceled shortly after the site was renamed the Trump Kennedy Center on both its website and the building’s signage.

• “This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt,” Grenell wrote in a letter to Redd

After President Donald Trump attached his name to the Kennedy Center, jazz musician Chuck Redd pulled out of his annual Christmas Eve concert. Now, the president of the place is asking for strong financial compensation.

The artist, 67, has pulled out of the annual “Jazz Jam” holiday show – which he has hosted for nearly two decades – in light of the controversial naming, he announced less than a week before the event.

On Friday, December 26, Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell criticized the musician’s decision to cancel “for partisan political reasons” and demanded $1 million in damages, according to a letter obtained by Fox News, the Associated Press and The New York Times. He also called Redd’s cancellation a “political stunt.”

“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent makeover, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very expensive for a non-profit Arts institution,” Grenell, 59, said in the letter.

The venue’s president went on to criticize Redd for an alleged lack of ticket sales and praised Trump, 79, for saving the center “from almost certain destruction” before formally seeking damages from the Christmas Eve Jazz Jam host.

“Your disastrous ticket sales and lack of donor support, combined with your last-minute cancellation, cost us considerably,” Grenell wrote. “This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt.”

“This institution remains dedicated to excellence and accessibility for generations to come, and we will not give in to the pressure tactics being directed at us by political artists on our stage,” concluded Grenell. “True artists perform for everyone regardless of the audience members’ political affiliation.”

Redd could not be reached for comment.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt first announced on December 18 that the historic site’s board had “voted unanimously” to rename the building “The Trump Kennedy Center,” or “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” in full.

Shortly after taking office, Trump removed the appointed members of the center’s board, and installed his own appointees. The pro-Trump board then installed Trump as chairman of the art organization, which was dedicated in 1964 as a “living memorial” to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The Kennedy Center was established by an act of Congress, and critics argued that only Congress could authorize a formal name change.

Still, the center updated its logo on its website and social media to read “The Trump Kennedy Center” almost immediately, and the next day, Trump’s name was added to signage outside the building — prompting Redd’s cancellation.

The drummer and vibraphone player, who toured with famous jazz musicians, has hosted the annual holiday concerts since 2006, according to AP. He explained his reasoning for the cancellation in an email to the outlet on Wednesday, December 24 – the day the show was originally scheduled to take place.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“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, according to AP.

The jazz artist is not the only artist to make a scheduled appearance at the center since Trump became more involved with the historic venue in his second term. According to AP, both Issa Rae and Lin-Manuel Miranda have also canceled shows this year.

In a statement to Fox News, Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations for the Kennedy Center, said in part, “Any artist who cancels their show at the Trump Kennedy Center because of political differences is not courageous or principled – they are selfish, intolerant, and have failed to fulfill the basic duty of a public artist: to perform for all people.”

Read the original article on People