A musician who canceled a show at the Kennedy Center is defending her choice following President Donald Trump’s decision to give it a MAGA makeover.
“I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts. This is 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 to her social media pages on Monday. “When American history starts getting treated like something you can ban, erase, rename, or rebrand for somebody else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep right at night.”
As a folk singer from Alabama, Lee said she doesn’t have much power, nor does she run with the “big dogs who do.” But, she emphasized, her songs are her truth and “nobody can take that from me.”
“I believe in the power of truth, and I believe in the power of people. And I’m gonna stand on that side forever,” she wrote.
Lee was set to play at the center’s Millennium Stage next month. Several other acts that were scheduled to perform are also expressing concerns after a Trump-appointed board of trustees decided last week to rename the center to “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
The center’s renaming also prompted Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) to file a lawsuit against the board, arguing that Congress was needed for such a move.
The facade of the center’s building, along with its website, now promotes the Trump-Kennedy name. The moniker reportedly crept its way onto Tuesday’s broadcast of “The Kennedy Center Honors” on CBS, as well, despite the taping having occurred earlier this month.
It’s the latest controversial, MAGA-friendly move at the center, which has seen plummeting ticket sales since Trump took office. In his opening monologue for the award ceremony, Trump declared: “We’re bringing this building back to life like nobody ever thought was even possible.”
Heather Diehl via Getty Images
In a separate statement shared on her website, Lee emphasized that the center should remain free from political influence, self-promotion or ideological pressure.
“Performing under these circumstances would conflict with the values of artistic freedom, public trust, and constitutional principles that the Kennedy Center was created to uphold,” she wrote. “…Using it for personal promotion diminishes its meaning and erodes the dignity owed to the legacy of a fallen president.”
