The Kennedy Center is already losing artists after Donald Trump slapped his name on the storied arts institution.
Folk singer Christy Lee, who was scheduled to perform at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 14, is negotiating to cancel her appearance, her spokeswoman told NOTUS, as other artists have also begun cutting ties with the venue.
An artist who spoke to NOTUS on condition of anonymity said Trump’s name change has left a permanent “scar” at the center.
Christie Lee walked out of her performance at the renamed Trump Center. / Paul Morighi / WireImage
Another mourned the artists and country the Kennedy Center once represented. “I feel bad not only for the artists, but for the people who work there,” they said.
“The Kennedy Center should be a monument with a focus on being nonpartisan. A place where people, no matter what party they believe in, no matter what party they are, should come together and experience art. And it hasn’t been that way.”
Other artists who reluctantly chose to hold their scheduled performances at the center told NOTUS that they were doing so as a form of resistance to the 79-year-old president.
On Friday morning, workers adjusted the name of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. / Heather Diehl / Getty Images
“Reality show personalities and con artistes are not the type of artiste that Kendra showcases,” said an artiste. They added that they “do not associate the art or this building with Trump.”
“And I think the real debate so far is whether you boycott it and help make sure it goes down the tube,” the musician added. “Or do you do concerts and keep the audience that loves going to the Kennedy Center. And make sure there’s something there after this guy leaves. And even if he trashes it, it can be restored.”
The response comes after White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt announced Thursday that the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts would be renamed after the venue’s board voted to include Trump’s name, which is now stacked with MAGA loyalists.
“Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team for a long time to come!” She wrote in X. “This building will achieve a new level of success and grandeur.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on board; Attorney General Pam Bondi; 2nd Female Usha Vance; Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino; and Alison Lutnick, wife of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
A source told CNN that Trump called the meeting Thursday before the vote.
A day later, the president’s name was quickly and efficiently plastered on the center building, which now reads: “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Democrats and historians, however, have insisted that changing the place’s name would require an act of Congress.
“The Kennedy Center was named by law. Changing the name would require an amendment to the 1964 law,” Ray Smoak, a former House historian, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “The Kennedy Center Board is not a lawmaking body. Congress makes the laws.”
Meanwhile, many of Kennedy’s relatives have expressed their outrage.
“Three years and one month from now, I’m going to grab a pickaxe and pull those letters out of that building, but I need help holding the ladder,” Kerry Kennedy, 66, wrote on X Friday.
The lawyer and former president’s niece added: “Are you in? Apply for my carpenter’s card today, so it will be a union job!!!”
Trump set his sights on the center months ago and has repeatedly suggested in public comments and social media that it be renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center. At the same time, ticket sales have reportedly declined and audiences have thinned since Trump’s takeover.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
