Chuck Redd He is a 67-year-old jazz musician who has led a central activity for two decades: a Christmas concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. At least that was the plan until December 18, when the name was changed to the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The news caused controversy and exploded when the door was slammed on Redd, who is now facing a $1 million fine.
It all started in the middle of the month, just before Christmas, when Kennedy Center authorities decided to rename the building to pay tribute to Trump. The Republican was the one who fired the current board and appointed his successors last February, in his first month after the presidential inauguration.
The establishment of a National Cultural Center in the United States resumed in the 1960s. After John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Congress voted in 1964 to rename it the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to serve as a “living memorial” to the former president assassinated in Dallas.
However, on December 18, authorities voted — not without controversy or doubts about its authority to do so — to add Trump to the institution’s name. And the staff quickly hung the new sign.
For this reason, Redd canceled his now traditional Christmas jazz concert in protest. There was a quick reaction: the center’s director, Richard Grenell, sent him a letter anticipating the start of a project Sue for a million dollars.
“Your decision to withdraw at the last minute – expressly in response to the Center’s recent name change, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure – is classic bigotry and very costly for a nonprofit arts institution,” Grenell’s letter said, according to the copy cited by the New York Times.
He also warns the drummer and vibraphonist, who has presented this Christmas Eve concert at the Kennedy since 2006, that “this is your official notice that we are going to ask you for a million dollars.” in compensation for this political maneuver”.
Grenell, who was appointed by Trump to lead the institution in February, accused Redd of “sad intimidation tactics used by certain elements of the left” said the Times.
The director is special presidential delegate for space missions in addition to the position he has held since February. He has held this position since January. During the tycoon’s previous term, Grenell served as US ambassador to Germany and director of national intelligence.
Redd has not yet publicly responded to the letter. Ohio Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty also filed a lawsuit claiming an act of Congress was needed to change the name.
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