The jazz musician who abruptly backed out of hosting a Christmas Eve concert at the Trump-Kennedy Center will face a $1 million lawsuit for the “political stunt,” the head of the performing arts venue revealed Friday.
The annual “Christmas Eve Jazz Jam” was cancelled after drummer and vibraphone player Chuck Redd pulled out of the holiday tradition in protest of President Trump’s name being added to the iconic venue.
Trump-Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell notified Redd in a letter, obtained by The Post, that the institution plans to seek “damages” against him over his decision to abandon his hosting duties for “partisan political reasons.”
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” Grenell wrote.
“Regrettably, your action surrenders to the sad bullying tactics employed by certain elements on the left, who have sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances at our national cultural center,” he added.
Grenell claimed that attendance for the Jazz Jam, which Redd has hosted for the last several years, had been “lagging considerably behind our other Christmas and holiday offerings.”
“The contrast between the public’s lack of interest in your show with the success we are experiencing under our new chairman is drastic,” the Trump administration official said.
“The most avant-garde and well-regarded performers in your genre will still perform regularly, and unlike you, they’ll do it to sold out crowds regardless of their political leanings,” Grenell continued.
The Trump-Kennedy Center president further claimed that Redd’s “dismal ticket sales and lack of donor support” combined with the eleventh-hour cancellation “has cost us considerably.”
“This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt.”
Redd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Dec. 18, the performing arts venue’s board of trustees announced it had “unanimously” voted to add Trump’s name to the building, causing an uproar among the president’s critics.
“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 Wednesday in a statement to the Associated Press.
“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and other artists had previously announced that they would not run musical productions, concerts or hold events at the venue in response to Trump’s changes to the center’s board of directors, including naming himself chairman.
“Any artist cancelling their show at the Trump Kennedy Center over political differences isn’t courageous or principled — they are selfish, intolerant, and have failed to meet the basic duty of a public artist: to perform for all people,” Trump-Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations Roma Daravi told The Post.
“Art is a shared cultural experience meant to unite, not exclude,” she added. “The Trump Kennedy Center is a true bipartisan institution that welcomes artists and patrons from all backgrounds — great art transcends politics, and America’s cultural center remains committed to presenting popular programming that inspires and resonates with all audiences.”
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