President Donald Trump's new monument to himself is having a hard time scheduling entertainment acts after a major dance company and a jazz ensemble cancelled their dates, according to a new report.
The New York Times reported on Monday that the New York dance company Doug Varone and Dancers cancelled its two-night stint scheduled for April. The move cost the company $40,000 and followed the departure of two of the company's top dance administrators, Jane Raleigh and Alicia Adams, who left the Kennedy Center's board in protest of Trump's takeover attempt.
“It is financially devastating but morally exhilarating,” Varone told the NYT.
A jazz ensemble called "The Cookers" also cancelled its New Year's Eve date, according to The Times. While the report said the reasons for the cancellation were not immediately clear, the outlet noted that it followed jazz musician Chuck Redd's decision not to perform at the Kennedy Center on Christmas Eve.
Trump has sought to officially rebrand The Kennedy Center as the Trump-Kennedy Center, a move that has generated significant pushback. The Kennedy Center was created by federal law during the Lyndon Johnson administration after Kennedy was assassinated, which experts have said makes Trump's moves to rebrand the building "illegal."
The administration has already affixed Trump's name to the Kennedy Center.