Kennedy Center Loses Additional Acts Over Trump Name Change

The Kennedy Center has lost more scheduled acts over the addition of President Donald Trump’s name to the historic arts venue.

Doug Varone and Dancers, a dance company from New York City, shared Monday they were pulling out of their planned April appearance at the Kennedy Center, citing the name change as the reason.

“It was an honor to be invited to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in April 2026,” the group wrote on Instagram. “It would have been a fitting tribute to the company’s 40th year. While we totally disagreed with the takeover by the Trump Administration at the Kennedy Center, we still believed it was important to honor our engagement out of respect for both Jane Raleigh and Alicia Adams, who curated a first-rate dance season, as well as for the dance audiences in DC.”

Yet, as the group noted in their statement, “the latest act of Donald J. Trump renaming the Center after himself” made it so they could “no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution.”

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A post shared by Doug Varone and Dancers (@dovadance)

They added: “The Kennedy Center was named in honor of our 35th President who fervently believed that the arts were the beating heart of our nation, as well as an integral part of international diplomacy. We hope in three-year’s time, that the Center and its reputation will return to that glory.”

Similarly, The Cookers, a jazz group set to perform at the Washington D.C.-based cultural center on New Year’s Eve, confirmed they had canceled their planned performance. Though they did not state the name change as the reason for the cancellation, the group noted that “jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom.”

“With deep regret, we must share that we are unable to perform as planned on New Year’s Eve,” the jazz performers wrote on their website. “We know this news is disappointing, and we are truly sorry to everyone who made plans, traveled and invested their time and resources to be with us. This decision has come together very quickly, and we understand how frustrating last‑minute changes can be.”

The statement continued: “Jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice. Some of us have been making this music for many decades, and that history still shapes us. We are not turning away from our audience, and do want to make sure that when we do return to the bandstand, the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it.”

Before signing off their note, The Cookers noted that they hoped their decision would “leave space for reflection, not resentment.”
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“To everyone who is disappointed or upset, we understand and share your sadness,” the concluded. “We remain committed to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than deepening them.”

Both The Cookers and Doug Varone and Dancers’ decisions come on the heels of musician Chuck Redd stepping away from his planned Christmas Eve performance, a choice which has prompted the Kennedy Center’s president, Richard Grenell, to threaten a $1 million lawsuit.

Redd’s decision came about after the center’s board of trustees — whose members were appointed by President Trump in February — voted to approve the name change earlier in December.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was named in the late president’s honor in 1964 following his assassination.

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