New signage, The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, is unveiled on the Kennedy Center, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-12-30T15:28:55Z More artists have canceled scheduled performances at the Kennedy Center following the addition of President Donald Trumps name to the facility, with jazz supergroup The Cookers pulling out of a planned New Years Eve concert, and the institutions president saying the cancellations belie the artists unwillingness to see their music as crossing lines of political disparity.The fresh round of cancellations after Trump put his name of the building follows an earlier artist backlash in spring. After Trump ousted the Kennedy Center board and named himself the institutions chairman in February, performer Issa Rae and the producers of Hamilton cancelled scheduled engagements while musicians Ben Folds and Renee Flaming stepped down from advisory roles. The Cookers, a jazz supergroup performing together for nearly two decades, announced their withdrawal from A Jazz New Years Eve on their website, saying the decision has come together very quickly and acknowledging frustration from those who may have planned to attend. The group didnt mention the buildings renaming or the Trump administration but did say that, when they return to performing, they wanted to ensure that the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it, reiterating a commitment to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than deepening them. The group may not have addressed the Kennedy Center situation directly, but one of its members has. On Saturday, saxophone player Billy Harper said in comments posted on the Jazz Stage Facebook page that he would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture. The same music I devoted my life to creating and advancing. According to the White House, Trumps handpicked board approved the renaming. Harper said both the board, as well as the name displayed on the building itself represents a mentality and practices I always stood against. And still do, today more than ever. Richard Grenell, a Trump ally whom the president chose to head the Kennedy Center after he forced out the previous leadership, posted Monday night on X that The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership, intimating the bookings were made under the Biden administration. In a statement to The Associated Press, Grenell said Tuesday the last minute cancellations prove that they were always unwilling to perform for everyone even those they disagree with politically, adding that the Kennedy Center had been flooded with inquiries from real artists willing to perform for everyone and who reject political statements in their artistry.There was no immediate word from Kennedy Center officials if the entity would pursue legal action against the group, as Grenell said it would after musician Chuck Redd canceled a Christmas Eve performance. Following that withdrawal, in which Redd cited the Kennedy Center renaming, Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages for what he called a political stunt. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him. Scholars have said any changes to the buildings name would need congressional approval; the law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another persons name on the buildings exterior.___Associated Press writers Steven Sloan and Hillel Italie contributed to this report. MEG KINNARD Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site