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A musician who canceled a show at the Kennedy Center is defending her choice following President Donald Trump’s decision to give her a MAGA makeover.
“I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts. That’s how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck,” folk singer Kristy Lee wrote in a post on her social media pages on Monday. “When American history starts to be treated as something that can be banned, erased, renamed, or rebranded for someone else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep well at night.”
As a folk singer from Alabama, Lee said she doesn’t have a lot of power and doesn’t hang out with the “big dogs that do.” But, he emphasized, his songs are his truth and “no one can take that away from me.”
“I believe in the power of truth and I believe in the power of people. And I will be on that side forever,” he wrote.
Lee was scheduled to play the center’s Millennium Stage next month. Several other events that were scheduled to take place are also expressing concern after a Trump-appointed board of directors decided last week to change the center’s name to the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
The center’s name change also prompted Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) to file a lawsuit against the board, arguing that Congress was needed for such a move.
The center’s building facade, along with its website, now promotes the Trump-Kennedy name. The nickname also reportedly appeared on Tuesday’s broadcast of “The Kennedy Center Honors” on News, even though taping occurred earlier this month.
It’s the latest controversial, MAGA-friendly move at the center, which has seen ticket sales decline since Trump took office. In his opening monologue at the awards ceremony, Trump declared, “We are bringing this building back to life like no one ever thought possible.”
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In a separate statement shared on his website, Lee emphasized that the center must remain free of political influence, self-promotion or ideological pressure.
“Acting under these circumstances would conflict with the values of artistic freedom, public trust, and constitutional principles for which the Kennedy Center was created,” he wrote. “…Using it for personal promotion diminishes its meaning and erodes the dignity due to the legacy of a fallen president.”