The jazz supergroup The Cookers withdrew from their scheduled New Year’s Eve performances at the Kennedy Center, effectively leading to the event’s cancellation. While they didn’t issue a formal protest statement, the band’s drummer told The New York Times that the center’s controversial name change “evidently” factored into their decision.
Why it was canceled:
The cancellations come amid widespread backlash over the Kennedy Center’s recent renaming to include President Donald Trump’s name, now branded as the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
This name change followed a shake-up of the center’s board dominated by Trump appointees and has sparked protests and disappointment across the arts community. Several other performers — including jazz musician Chuck Redd and New York dance company Doug Varone and Dancers — have also pulled out of scheduled shows in recent weeks in response to the renaming and related political controversy.
What performers have said:
While The Cookers did not publicly frame their cancellation solely as a protest, one member, Billy Harper, explicitly stated he would not perform at a venue with a name and leadership he views as representing “overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture.”