A view of the Kennedy Heart in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 10, 2026. Artists have cancelled performances at Washington D.C.’s premier performing arts middle to protest its renaming to incorporate President Donald Trump.
Mandel Ngan/AFP through Getty Photos
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Mandel Ngan/AFP through Getty Photos
When President Donald Trump was named chairman of the Kennedy Heart’s board virtually a yr in the past, in February 2025, backlash from ticket consumers, slated performers, and sure board members — together with Shonda Rhimes — was swift.
One of many first performers to cancel was a touring manufacturing of the musical Hamilton. In a assertion on X in March 2025, producer Jeffrey Vendor mentioned he opposed the Trump administration’s ousting of many Democratic board members.
“The latest purge by the Trump Administration of each skilled workers and performing arts occasions at or initially produced by the Kennedy Heart flies within the face of all the pieces this nationwide middle represents,” wrote Vendor.
Actress and author Issa Rae adopted swimsuit with a publish on Instagram, cancelling her sold-out March efficiency.
A slew of further artists and efficiency corporations canceled after Trump-appointed members of the Kennedy Heart’s board voted to rename the middle “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Heart for the Performing Arts” in December. Congress has not but licensed the title change. For the reason that energy of the venue’s board to rename the middle is at the moment in dispute, NPR continues to consult with the Kennedy Heart utilizing its authorized title.
Kennedy Heart govt director Richard Grenell has responded to many cancellations on social media, condemning the artists. After Banjo participant Béla Fleck canceled his efficiency as a result of he mentioned the middle had turn into “political,” Grenell wrote on X, “You simply made it political and caved to the woke mob who needs you to carry out for under Lefties.”
“This mob pressuring you’ll by no means be pleased till you solely play for Democrats. The Trump Kennedy Heart believes all persons are welcome — Democrats and Republicans and other people bored with politics. We wish performers who aren’t political — who merely love entertaining everybody no matter who they voted for.”
Discover a working record of those cancellations beneath.
Dancers with the Martha Graham Dance Firm carry out a scene from “Diversions of Angels” throughout a costume rehearsal on the Joyce Theater in New York on Sept. 12, 2007. Based in 1926, the Martha Graham Dance Firm is the oldest dance firm in America.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP through Getty Photos
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Timothy A. Clary/AFP through Getty Photos
The Martha Graham Dance Firm
The Martha Graham Dance Firm introduced its withdrawal from spring 2026 programming on the Kennedy Heart on Jan. 16.
“The Martha Graham Dance Firm regrets that, for quite a lot of causes, we’re unable to carry out on the Kennedy Heart in April,” the corporate wrote in a press release to NPR. “We hope to carry out on the middle sooner or later.”
The Martha Graham Dance Firm — which is the oldest dance firm in the US — was scheduled to cease on the Kennedy Heart for a two-day run in early April as a part of its nationwide centennial tour. Its founder, Martha Graham, was a 1979 Kennedy Heart Honoree acknowledged because the “mom of recent dance.”
Christine Goerke, within the a part of Florencia, sings throughout a efficiency of “Florencia within the Amazon,” offered by the Washington Nationwide Opera, on the John F. Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 17, 2014.
Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Photos
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Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Photos
The Washington Nationwide Opera
On Jan. 9, the Washington Nationwide Opera introduced its choice to depart the Kennedy Heart, its house since 1971. Based on an electronic mail assertion despatched to NPR, the choice got here in response to new insurance policies which the 70-year-old performing arts group mentioned pressure its monetary mannequin.
The Washington Nationwide Opera confused the “amicability” of its choice to finish its longtime residency on the Kennedy Heart. However it mentioned the middle’s new enterprise mannequin, which requires productions to be fully-funded upfront, is incompatible with the same old mixture of ticket gross sales, grants and donations that can’t all be secured forward.
“Opera corporations usually cowl solely 30-60% of prices by means of ticket gross sales, with the rest from grants and donations that can not be secured years forward when productions have to be deliberate,” the assertion mentioned.
On social media, the Kennedy Heart’s Grenell mentioned it was the middle’s choice to sever ties with the opera firm — and never the opposite manner round.
“The Trump Kennedy Heart has made the choice to finish the EXCLUSIVE partnership with the Washington Opera in order that we are able to have the pliability and funds to herald operas from world wide and throughout the U.S.” Grenell mentioned.
Sonia De Los Santos
On Jan. 8, singer-songwriter Sonia De Los Santos introduced on Instagram that she was canceling her upcoming February live performance on the Kennedy Heart. “As an artist,” wrote De Los Santos, “I treasure the liberty to create and share my music, and for a few years I’ve used this privilege to uplift the tales of immigrants on this nation.”
De Los Santos, who was nominated for a Latin Grammy for greatest kids’s album in 2018, said that “I don’t really feel that the present local weather at this beloved venue represents a welcoming area for myself, my band, or our viewers.”
Béla Fleck performs onstage in the course of the 67th Annual Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony at Peacock Theater on Feb. 2, 2025 in Los Angeles.
Leon Bennett/Getty Photos for The Recording Academy
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Leon Bennett/Getty Photos for The Recording Academy
Béla Fleck
Performing on the Kennedy Heart “has turn into charged and political, at an establishment the place the main target ought to be on the music,” wrote American banjo participant Béla Fleck about his scheduled look with the Nationwide Symphony Orchestra in an official assertion posted to Instagram on Jan. 7. “I’ve withdrawn from my upcoming efficiency with the NSO at The Kennedy Heart,” he wrote. “I look ahead to taking part in with the NSO one other time sooner or later once we can collectively share and have fun artwork.”
The 18-time Grammy winner has carried out on the Kennedy Heart prior to now.
Stephen Schwartz
The composer and lyricist for the beloved musicals Depraved, Godspell and Pippin was anticipated to host a gala fundraiser for the Washington Nationwide Opera in Could 2026. On Jan. 2, Schwartz introduced his withdrawal. Based on NBC Information, Schwartz mirrored that the Kennedy Heart was “based to be an apolitical house totally free creative expression for artists of all nationalities and ideologies.” Right now, he mentioned, making an look “has now turn into an ideological assertion.”
Richard Grenell rapidly responded to Schwartz’s withdrawal, calling it a “bogus” report in a press release posted on X and saying reporters have been plagiarizing a “pretend @RollingStone story.” Schwartz was “by no means signed,” Grenell wrote.
Studies from NBC and different shops, together with Selection, have refuted this declare, publishing screenshots displaying that Schwartz was promoted on the Kennedy Heart’s web site previous to his cancellation.
Stephen Schwartz attends the 2025 Songwriters Corridor Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Marriott Marquis Instances Sq. on Jun. 12, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
Theo Wargo/Getty Photos for Songwriters Corridor Of Fame
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Theo Wargo/Getty Photos for Songwriters Corridor Of Fame
The Cookers
The seven-piece band of veteran jazz musicians introduced shortly earlier than Dec. 31 that they might not carry out a deliberate present referred to as “A Jazz New Yr’s Eve” on the Kennedy Heart.
“We all know this information is disappointing,” reads the assertion on their web site. “We aren’t turning away from our viewers, and do wish to ensure that once we do return to the bandstand, the room is ready to have fun the complete presence of the music and everybody in it. Our hope is that this second will depart area for reflection, not resentment.”
The assertion went on to say, “We stay dedicated to taking part in music that reaches throughout divisions quite than deepening them.”
Chuck Redd
The American jazz drummer and longtime host of the Kennedy Heart’s annual Christmas Jazz Jam selected to cancel his 2025 look when he “noticed the title change on the Kennedy Heart web site after which hours afterward the constructing,” in keeping with a press release despatched to the Related Press.
On Dec. 27, the Kennedy Heart introduced its plan to file a $1 million lawsuit in opposition to Redd. “Any artist canceling their present on the Trump Kennedy Heart over political variations is not brave or principled—they’re egocentric, illiberal, and have failed to fulfill the essential responsibility of a public artist: to carry out for all folks,” mentioned Kennedy Heart spokesperson Roma Daravi.
In a letter shared with NPR, Grenell condemned Redd: “Regrettably, your motion surrenders to the unhappy bullying ways employed by sure parts on the left, who’ve sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances at our nationwide cultural middle.”
Doug Varone and Dancers
“The renaming for me has sort of pushed me off a cliff,” mentioned choreographer Doug Varone on Dec. 31, when he spoke with NPR’s Morning Version. Varone, who was set to showcase members of his Doug Varone and Dancers firm on the Kennedy Heart in April 2026, pulled the efficiency.
John F. Kennedy, for whom the Kennedy Heart was established as a dwelling memorial, “believed within the arts as sort of the beating coronary heart of our nation,” mentioned Varone.
“I consider that the extent of artistry has dropped drastically because the administration change, and the workers that have been answerable for the standard of the work on the middle have all been let go.”
After canceling, the corporate began a crowdfunding marketing campaign to assist offset its monetary loss. It raised over $42,000, exceeding its $40,000 objective.
Magpie
In a assertion posted to Fb on Jan. 5, Greg Artzner of the American folks duo Magpie introduced the choice to tug their Feb. 28 live performance, set to play on the Kennedy Heart’s Millennium Stage.
“There is not actually something defensible” about Trump, mentioned the assertion from Artzner and Magpie’s Terry Leonino. Though they’d deliberate a night of songs with messages of unity and hope, “We’re personally and philosophically in settlement with the idea underlying the rising boycott,” they mentioned. “The stand being taken by fellow artists we respect and admire has created an ethical picket line. We stand with them in solidarity.”
An replace on Jan. 9 mentioned that Magpie would now be performing an extended model of that live performance on Feb. 21 at Seekers Church in Washington, D.C., now referred to as, “The Touring John F. Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts Restoration Roadshow.”
Kristy Lee
Folks singer Kristy Lee canceled her Jan. 14 Kennedy Heart efficiency attributable to “latest efforts to impose political branding on the Heart,” in keeping with a assertion posted on her web site.
“Public arts areas ought to be free from political affect,” Lee mentioned in her assertion. “I step again out of respect for creative freedom and the Kennedy Heart’s founding mission, not in opposition to its workers, artists, or viewers.”
On Jan. 14, hosted a live-streamed live performance as a substitute, titled “Displaying Up: From the Kennedy Heart to the Sofa.”
Low Reduce Connie
Philadelphia rock and roll band Low Reduce Connie pulled their live performance, set for February 2025, “Upon studying that this establishment that has run non-partisan for 54 years is now chaired by President Trump himself and his regime,” in keeping with a assertion posted on their Fb web page.
“Possibly my profession will endure from this choice,” wrote band frontman Adam Weiner, “however my soul would be the higher for it.”
Rhiannon Giddens
In Feb. 2025, folks singer Rhiannon Giddens introduced her departure from the Kennedy Heart lineup in a social media assertion. “I can’t in good conscience play at The Kennedy with the latest programming modifications pressured on the establishment by this new board,” wrote Giddens.
Giddens transferred her Could 11 live performance, “Outdated-Time Revue,” to The Anthem live performance corridor, additionally in Washington, D.C.
Balún
The Puerto Rican band, primarily based in Brooklyn in New York Metropolis, canceled their Kennedy Heart efficiency, which had been set for Feb. 27, 2025.
Based on a press release posted to Balún’s Instagram account, “latest occasions made it clear that the area now not aligns with our values. Our security, integrity, and dedication to justice come first.”
Issa Rae attends HBO’s closing season premiere of “Insecure” at Kenneth Hahn Park on Oct. 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
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Kevin Winter/Getty Photos
Issa Rae
“Thanks a lot for promoting out the Kennedy Heart for ‘An Night With [Me],'” wrote Issa Rae, the acclaimed star and creator of HBO’s Insecure, on her Instagram tales web page in February 2025. “Sadly, attributable to what I consider to be an infringement on the values of an establishment that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds by means of all mediums, I’ve determined to cancel my look at this venue.”
“Hamilton”
In March 2025, Hamilton producer Jeffrey Vendor introduced on X that the Tony-award profitable musical phenomenon would now not run as scheduled on the Kennedy Heart. Based on the assertion, the choice was made each for political and for enterprise causes. Not solely was there “a brand new spirit of partisanship,” the assertion learn partially, however “it could be “financially and personally devastating to the workers of Hamilton if the brand new management of the Kennedy Heart instantly canceled or re-negotiated our engagement. The actions of the brand new Chairman of the Board in latest weeks display that contracts and former agreements merely can’t be trusted.”
The Kennedy Heart was swift to answer Hamilton‘s cancellation. On X in a now-deleted publish, Richard Grenell accused Hamilton star and creator Lin Manuel-Miranda of being “illiberal of people that do not agree with him politically,” and said that the choice was “a publicity stunt that can backfire.”
For the reason that present’s cancellation on the Heart, Hamilton has continued to promote out theaters on Broadway and in venues nationwide who host its North American touring firm.
U.S. Marine Band
The U.S. Marine Band introduced in February 2025 that the Marine Band wouldn’t carry out within the Fairness Arc Wind Symphony occasion, a collaboration between Marine Band members and chosen highschool musicians.
The U.S. Marine Band, recognized additionally as “The President’s Personal” was based by an Act of Congress in 1798, making it the nation’s oldest skilled music group.
Composer Kevin Charoensri, whose music had been scheduled to be carried out by the band on the occasion, said in a Fb publish that Range, Fairness, and Inclusion (DEI) orders resulted within the cancellation of the Fairness Arc live performance:
“It has come to my consideration that this system, one primarily based on fairness and variety of voices, is now not supported on the federal stage below this administration,” Charoensri wrote. “It was because of this that this system and efficiency have been canceled.”
Members of the Marine Band watch for Deputy Secretary of Protection Patrick Shanahan and Appearing Minister of Nationwide Protection of Afghanistan Lieutenant Normal Tariq Shah Bahrami to take part in an honor cordon outdoors the Pentagon on Nov. 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP through Getty Photos
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Brendan Smialowski/AFP through Getty Photos
With further reporting by Chloe Veltman, Ayana Archie, Elizabeth Blair, Andrew Limbong, Anastasia Tsioulcas and Kristin Wright. Edited by Jennifer Vanasco.
