Kennedy Center seeks $1m from musician who cancelled after Trump name added to venue

The head of the Kennedy Center in Washington has demanded $1 million (£740,000) in damages from a musician who canceled a concert after President Donald Trump's name was added to the venue.

Chuck Redd canceled his Christmas Eve performance, which he has held annually since 2006, citing the board's vote to rename the venue the Trump Kennedy Center.

In his letter, Richard Grenell said the cancellation was a “political stunt” and “cost us a lot.” Redd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shortly after taking office, Trump fired several board members and replaced them with his allies, who then voted to make Trump chairman of the board.

Grenell, president of the Trump Kennedy Center, wrote in a letter to Redd that his no-show “is classic bigotry and is very costly to a nonprofit arts institution.”

He added: “Your poor ticket sales and lack of donor support, coupled with your last minute cancellation, have cost us significantly.

“This is your legal notice that we will be seeking $1 million in compensation from you for this political stunt.”

Last week, the White House announced that the center's board voted unanimously to rename the cultural facility the Donald Trump-John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

A day later, crews could be seen etching the president's name onto the building's façade. Its website and some social media accounts have also been renamed.

The White House said the renaming effort was in recognition of Trump's efforts to renovate the building, but the move was criticized by Democrats, several artists and members of the Kennedy family.

“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then a few hours later on the building, I decided to cancel our concert,” Redd, a drummer and vibraphonist, told The Associated Press earlier this week.

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat, recently filed a lawsuit to remove Trump's name from the center.

In her lawsuit, she argued that since the center's name was specified in the 1964 law, changing its name should require an “act of Congress.”

The lawsuit says Beatty called into a meeting about the name change but was silenced when she tried to voice her opposition. She is one of several lawmakers appointed to serve on the council by U.S. law.

Work on the National Center for the Performing Arts began in the 1950s, and after Kennedy, the 35th president, was assassinated in 1963, Congress decided to turn it into a living memorial to him.