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NEWS: Mass Boycott of the Kennedy Center Grows as Artists Cancel Performances Because of Trump

This evening I spoke with one of those artists, Kristy Lee.

Aaron Parnas Dec 30

Good evening. Tonight I am bringing you an exclusive interview with Kristy Lee, a folk music artist who has made the decision to cancel her upcoming performance at the Kennedy Center. Her reason is straightforward. Donald Trump. I am working around the clock to get you this exclusive content. Please consider subscribing if you can. Many around the White House want me to stop this work, I refuse.

Lee’s decision comes amid deepening turmoil at one of America’s most important cultural institutions. Under the current administration, the Kennedy Center has undergone sweeping changes that many artists now describe as politicization rather than stewardship. What was once a broadly respected national stage is increasingly seen as a partisan symbol, and artists are responding by walking away.

“I don’t have much power, and I don’t run with the big dogs who do. I’m just a folk singer from Alabama, slinging songs for a living,” Lee previously said. “My songs are really just my own diary set to music. They’re not polished or hit songs, but they’re my truth and nobody can take that from me. I’m proud of that.”

Her withdrawal is not happening in isolation. According to the New York Times, a prominent New York dance company announced tonight as well that it was canceling its performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in protest of the center being renamed to include President Trump.

Doug Varone and Dancers said it would withdraw from a two-night engagement scheduled for April that was meant to celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary. Doug Varone told the Times the decision would cost the company $40,000. Still, they chose to walk away.

This move follows a wave of cancellations and resignations that began in February after Donald Trump removed members of the Kennedy Center’s board and replaced them with loyalists. Since then, the fallout has accelerated.

The Kennedy Center’s own website recently confirmed that two New Year’s Eve performances by the Cookers, a well-known jazz ensemble, were canceled. The center had previously promoted the group as an all-star septet set to ignite the stage with fire and soul. The reason for those cancellations was not initially explained, but they followed jazz musician Chuck Redd’s decision to cancel his annual free Christmas Eve concert at the venue.

Rather than responding with restraint, the center’s leadership has escalated tensions. Richard Grenell, the chairman of the Kennedy Center, threatened Redd with a $1 million lawsuit after he withdrew his performance. In a letter to Redd, Grenell accused him of intolerance, writing that the renaming of the center honored President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save the institution.

The message artists are sending is unmistakable. The issue is not intolerance. It is protest. Artists are objecting to the transformation of a national cultural institution into a political monument. For decades, the Kennedy Center stood as a rare space that transcended party lines. That reputation is now in jeopardy.

Those who resigned or withdrew earlier this year include some of the most respected names in American arts, among them Pulitzer Prize winner Rhiannon Giddens, soprano Renée Fleming, and singer-songwriter Ben Folds.

Kristy Lee’s decision reflects a broader reckoning. Artists who do not wield political power are making one of the few choices available to them. They are choosing not to lend their voices, their labor, or their credibility to an institution they believe no longer represents artistic independence.

When artists leave in this number and with this level of conviction, the problem is not the artists. The problem is the institution they no longer recognize.