A jazz concert planned for Christmas Eve at the Kennedy Center, a Christmas tradition that dates back more than 20 years, has been canceled. The show’s host, musician Chuck Redd, says he canceled the performance after the White House announced last week that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility.

Since last Friday, the facade of the building reads The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. According to the White House, the president’s hand-picked board of directors approved the decision, which academics say violates the law. Trump had been suggesting for months that he was open to renaming the center.

“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and hours later at the building, I decided to cancel our concert,” Redd told The News in an email Wednesday. Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has presided over the Kennedy Center’s Christmas “Jazz Jams” since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts.

A Christmas Eve jazz show at the Kennedy Center has been canceled because the host said he decided to cancel it after Donald Trump's name was added to the building.
A Christmas Eve jazz show at the Kennedy Center has been canceled because the host said he decided to cancel it after Donald Trump’s name was added to the building.

The Washington Post via Getty Images

The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The center’s website lists the show as canceled.

President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him. Kennedy’s niece, Kerry Kennedy, has vowed to remove Trump’s name from the building once he leaves office, and former House historian Ray Smock is among those who say any changes would have to be approved by Congress.

The law explicitly prohibits the board of directors from turning the center into a memorial for anyone else and from putting another person’s name on the outside of the building.

The center's controversial name change to include Trump reportedly cost it a Christmas Eve jazz show.
The center’s controversial name change to include Trump reportedly cost it a Christmas Eve jazz show.

The Washington Post via Getty Images

Trump, a Republican, has been deeply involved with the center named after an iconic Democrat after virtually ignoring it during his first term. He forced his leadership to resign, reformed the board as he moved to lead it himself, and personally hosted this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, breaking a long tradition of presidents acting primarily as spectators. The changes at the Kennedy Center are part of the president’s broader mission to combat “woke” culture in federal cultural institutions.

Numerous artists have canceled performances at the Kennedy Center since Trump returned to office, including Issa Rae and Peter Wolf. Lin-Manuel Miranda canceled a planned production of “Hamilton.”