"Multi-Grammy-winning banjo player Bela Fleck has become the latest artist to cancel planned performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after President Trump's hand-picked board of directors added their boss's name to the storied venue. The development appears to have infuriated the center's interim president, MAGA loyalist Richard Grenell. Fleck said in a statement on Tuesday that he decided performing at the newly dubbed Trump Kennedy Center has become charged and political, at an institution where the focus should be on the music."
"Multiple artists have opted against performing at the Kennedy Center after Trump replaced its board with his own supporters and named himself its chairman in February 2025, in a move designed to purge the institution of what Trump called woke programming The wave of cancellations grew last month after Trump's name was added to the outside of the building, which was designed by an Act of Congress as a living memorial to JFK following his assassination in 1963."
Bela Fleck canceled three scheduled performances with the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center after the board added President Trump's name to the venue. Fleck said performing at the newly dubbed Trump Kennedy Center had become charged and political and that the institution's focus should be on the music. Interim Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell attacked Fleck on X, accusing him of caving to a "woke mob" and asserting the center welcomes people of all political persuasions. Multiple artists have since declined engagements after Trump replaced the board and named himself chairman, and cancellations increased after Trump's name appeared on the building.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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