Kennedy Heart president Richard Grenell is demanding $1 million in damages from the artist who canceled his Christmas Eve efficiency days after Donald Trump's identify was added to the power.

In a letter to jazz musician Chuck Redd, which was shared with Leisure Weekly, Grenell sharply criticizes the artist and praises Trump for his management as the middle's chairman — a task that the president was elected into by the board that he handpicked.

"Your resolution to withdraw on the final second — explicitly in response to the Heart’s current renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save lots of this nationwide treasure — is traditional intolerance and really expensive to a non-profit Arts establishment,” Grenell wrote.

Redd, a drummer and vibraphone participant, has presided over vacation “Jazz Jams” on the Kennedy Heart since 2006. This 12 months, he made waves by abruptly pulling the plug on the Wednesday efficiency after Trump's identify was added to the enduring cultural establishment initially named to memorialize President John F. Kennedy.

In his letter, Grenell moreover criticized Redd for his alleged lack of ticket gross sales and praised President Trump for rescuing the middle "from nearly sure destruction." The venue president then vowed to sue Redd over his actions, writing, "Your dismal ticket gross sales and lack of donor help, mixed together with your last-minute cancellation, has price us significantly. That is your official discover that we’ll search $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt."

Grenell concluded, "This establishment stays devoted to excellence and accessibility for generations to come back, and we won’t yield to the strain techniques being directed at us from political performers on our phases. True artists carry out for everybody whatever the political affiliation of viewers members."

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Days earlier than the annual Christmas jazz live performance was set to happen on the Washington, D.C., venue, Redd not solely known as off his efficiency, however made it clear that his cancellation was in direct response to the venue's rebrand.

"Once I noticed the identify change on the Kennedy Heart web site after which hours in a while the constructing, I selected to cancel our live performance,” Redd informed the Related Press final week,

In a separate e-mail to CNN, Redd doubled down on the choice, including, "I’ve been performing on the Kennedy Heart for the reason that starting of my profession. I used to be saddened to see this identify change."

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Following President Kennedy's assassination in 1963, Congress handed a legislation the next 12 months naming the middle as a residing memorial to him. Final week, "The Donald J. Trump and" was added above John F. Kennedy's identify on the outside of the Kennedy Heart, prompting widespread backlash. Amongst those that took concern with the transfer was Democratic Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, who launched a lawsuit in opposition to the board of trustees over the identify change, arguing that legislation prohibits the board from turning the middle right into a memorial for anybody apart from Kennedy.

In an announcement shared with EW, Roma Daravi, vp of public relations for the Kennedy Heart, mentioned partially, "Any artist canceling their present on the Trump Kennedy Heart over political variations isn’t brave or principled — they’re egocentric, illiberal, and have failed to fulfill the essential obligation of a public artist: to carry out for all individuals."

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