We must support the musician Trump is targeting for refusing to play the “Trump Kennedy Center”
Trump is following Stalin's playbook
The Trump regime has a message for all musicians and artists who dare to stand up to Donald Trump: They will destroy you!
I’m not exaggerating. That is the threat by the Trump appointed head of the Kennedy Center, Richard Grenell to a musician who refused to play at the venue after Trump’s minions illegally renamed it the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”
Chuck Redd is a well-respected musician who has hosted the annual “Jazz Jams” Christmas Eve concert since 2006 at the Kennedy Center. But after Trump’s stooges on the Kennedy Center board recently voted to rename the venue after Trump, Redd chose to boycott instead of being a part of a center that celebrates Trump. As Redd told the AP, “When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert.”
Who can blame Redd? It’s one thing to perform at a venue being run by Trump’s lackeys, it’s quite another to perform in a venue named to honor Trump. After all, Trump was declared a rapist by a federal judge, convicted of 34 felonies for cheating in the 2016 election, attempted a coup after losing the 2020 election, incited the Jan. 6 terrorist attack and then celebrated/pardoned the terrorists.
And to be clear, boycotting a business as a form of political protest has long been protected by the First Amendment. In 1982, a unanimous Supreme Court made that very clear in the case of NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., where they ruled Black Mississippians had a constitutionally protected right to boycott local businesses in protest of segregation and racial inequality. As a result, white business owners who had sued the NAACP for organizing and participating in the boycott were not liable for damages.
But freedom of speech and constitutional rights doesn’t matter to Team Trump—as we have seen with their efforts to silence media outlets and even comedians like Jimmy Kimmel. In that fascist tradition, in stepped Grenell who posted on social media about Redd’s boycott: “The left is boycotting the Arts because Trump is supporting the Arts. But we will not let them cancel shows without consequences.”
Yep, Grenell made it clear that if any performer refuses to play the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” there will be “consequences.” Before you dismiss this as an empty threat, Grenell announced in a letter that was released to the public that the Kennedy Center would be suing Redd for $1 million for what he dubbed a “political stunt.”
The letter continues with Grennell again making the case that the lawsuit is in response to a political boycott, writing, “Your action surrenders to the sad bullying tactics employed by certain elements on the left, who have sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances.” Finally, Grennell takes a personal dig at Redd writing that his Christmas concert “had been lagging considerably behind our other Christmas and holiday offerings, which have drawn strong crowds and enthusiastic response.”
As a lawyer myself, I can only assume Grennell didn’t speak to any lawyers before releasing this letter because dubbing Redd’s boycott “political” speech just made it just about impossible for them to win given the US Supreme Court decision cited above. And Grennell just undermined a breach of contract claim by saying in essence that no one was buying tickets to the show. That begs the question: What are the damages to the Kennedy Center if no one was buying tickets?!
But let’s put aside if the lawsuit will be successful or not. Trump’s lawsuits are not about winning or losing: They are about sending a message designed to intimidate others into submission and silence. Same goes for his Executive Orders targeting everything from Act Blue to universities.
This potential lawsuit is intended to scare other artists into not boycotting the Kennedy Center out of fear Trump will sue them—or use the power of the government to target them from IRS audits (like Richard Nixon did) to trumped up BS investigations.
Controlling the arts and artists is right from the far-right playbook. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin made control of the arts one of his priorities--utilizing the arts to further Stalin’s “cult of personality” as well as by creating an idealized version of the Soviet Union. And those artists who refused to submit to Stalin were dubbed an “enemy of the people” and then punished —including interrogation, torture, humiliating public trials, and execution. Trump now threatening to destroy this musician for defying him is right from the Stalin playbook.
And like so much of Trump’s actions this second term, Trump’s control of arts institutions like the Kennedy Center follows the lead of Hungarian leader Viktor Orban—a close ally of Trump. As a 2022 report noted, “Orbán’s government implemented a new cultural policy in order to advance a single nationalist narrative and define alternative viewpoints as anti-Hungarian.” This included appointing Orban loyalists to the board of arts organizations just as Trump has with the Kennedy Center. The impact in Hungary has been “limiting creative expression and diminishing plurality in the arts.”
We must stand with Chuck Redd—just like we did with Jimmy Kimmel.
How? Well for starters, you can express your support for him on social media. You can also send him a message directly as I did via his Instagram account offering your support for his courageous stand. (Redd has a website but the “Contact” information is missing—not sure if that was because Trumpers were attacking him or if this predates this issue.)
If Trump sues Redd, the hope is the ACLU or other lawyers will volunteer to represent him. But if not, we should collectively crowdfund for his legal fees.
Trump is weakened politically. He is at his lowest point in approval ratings plus his mental and physical decline is undeniable. But he is still very dangerous.
That is why we must stand united when he seeks to silence anyone who has the courage to stand up to him. We need to send a message to all contemplating taking such a stand that we will have your back. That will hopefully incentivize others to do the same.
History tells us that when confronted with a fascist threat: Alone we will be crushed. But together, we can win. That is why we must stand up for Chuck Redd!
It was a FREE CONCERT, so Grenell absolutely cannot prove ANY damages. This is nothing but a nuisance lawsuit and Redd should countersue.
I’m so happy to financially support any artist that refuses to play at the Kennedy Center. I’m sure many others feel like me. 💪🏽🎼💪🏽.