The head of the Kennedy Center in Washington DC has demanded $1 million (£740,000) in damages from musician Chuck Redd, who canceled a concert after President Donald Trump's name was added to the venue.
Chuck Redd called off his Christmas Eve performance, which he has hosted annually since 2006, citing a vote by the board to rename the site the Trump Kennedy Center.
In his letter, Richard Grenell stated that the cancellation was a 'political stunt' and 'has cost us considerably.' Redd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shortly after taking office, Trump ousted several board members and replaced them with allies, who later voted to install Trump as chairman of the board.
Grenell, the president of the Trump Kennedy Center, wrote in his letter to Redd that his no-show 'is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution.'
He added: 'Your dismal ticket sales and lack of donor support, combined with your last-minute cancellation have cost us considerably. This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt.'
Last week, the White House announced the center’s board had voted unanimously to rename the cultural institution as The Donald J Trump and John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
A day later, crews were seen etching the president's name on the building's façade. Its website and some social media accounts were also renamed.
The White House claimed the renaming was in recognition of Trump's actions to renovate the building, but the move faced criticism from Democrats, artists, and members of the Kennedy family.
Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player, told the Associated Press: 'When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert.'
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, recently filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Trump's name from the center, asserting that the institution's name change should require 'an act of Congress' due to its original designation in 1964 legislation.
The lawsuit indicates Beatty was muted when she attempted to contest the name change during a board meeting, although she is one of the lawmakers legally designated as board members. The Kennedy Center, initially proposed in the 1950s, became a living memorial to JFK after his assassination in 1963.
