{"id":45795,"date":"2025-12-29T11:35:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T19:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45795"},"modified":"2025-12-29T11:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T19:35:20","slug":"we-must-support-the-musician-trump-is-targeting-for-refusing-to-play-the-trump-kennedy-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/29\/we-must-support-the-musician-trump-is-targeting-for-refusing-to-play-the-trump-kennedy-center\/","title":{"rendered":"We must support the musician Trump is targeting for refusing to play the \u201cTrump Kennedy Center\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Trump is following Stalin’s playbook<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dean Obeidallah<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec 28, 2025 (deanobeidallah.substack.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Trump regime has a message for all musicians and artists who dare to stand up to Donald Trump: They will destroy you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not exaggerating. That is the threat<\/a> by the Trump appointed head of the Kennedy Center, Richard Grenell to a musician who refused to play at the venue after Trump\u2019s minions illegally renamed it the \u201cTrump-Kennedy Center.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Redd<\/a> is a well-respected musician who has hosted the annual \u201cJazz Jams\u201d Christmas Eve concert since 2006 at the Kennedy Center. But after Trump\u2019s stooges on the Kennedy Center board recently voted to rename the venue after Trump, Redd chose to boycott instead of being a part of a center that celebrates Trump. As Redd told<\/a> the AP, \u201cWhen I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who can blame Redd? It\u2019s one thing to perform at a venue being run by Trump\u2019s lackeys, it\u2019s quite another to perform in a venue named to honor Trump. After all, Trump was declared<\/a> a rapist by a federal judge, convicted of 34 felonies for cheating in the 2016 election, attempted a coup after losing the 2020 election, incited the Jan. 6 terrorist attack and then celebrated\/pardoned the terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to be clear, boycotting a business as a form of political protest has long been protected by the First Amendment. In 1982, a unanimous Supreme Court made that very clear in the case of NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co<\/a>., where they ruled Black Mississippians had a constitutionally protected right to boycott local businesses in protest of segregation and racial inequality. As a result, white business owners who had sued<\/a> the NAACP for organizing and participating in the boycott were not liable for damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But freedom of speech and constitutional rights doesn\u2019t matter to Team Trump\u2014as we have seen with their efforts to silence media outlets and even comedians like Jimmy Kimmel<\/a>. In that fascist tradition, in stepped Grenell who posted<\/a> on social media about Redd\u2019s boycott: \u201cThe left is boycotting the Arts because Trump is supporting the Arts. But we will not let them cancel shows without consequences.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yep, Grenell made it clear that if any performer refuses to play the \u201cTrump-Kennedy Center,\u201d there will be \u201cconsequences.\u201d Before you dismiss this as an empty threat, Grenell announced in a letter that was released to the public that the Kennedy Center would be suing<\/a> Redd for $1 million for what he dubbed a \u201cpolitical stunt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter continues with Grennell again making the case that the lawsuit is in response to a political boycott, writing, \u201cYour action surrenders to the sad bullying tactics employed by certain elements on the left, who have sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances.\u201d Finally, Grennell takes a personal dig at Redd writing that his Christmas concert \u201chad been lagging considerably behind our other Christmas and holiday offerings, which have drawn strong crowds and enthusiastic response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a lawyer myself, I can only assume Grennell didn\u2019t speak to any lawyers before releasing this letter because dubbing Redd\u2019s boycott \u201cpolitical\u201d speech just made it just about impossible for them to win given the US Supreme Court decision cited above. And Grennell just undermined a breach of contract claim by saying in essence that no one was buying tickets to the show. That begs the question: What are the damages to the Kennedy Center if no one was buying tickets?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s put aside if the lawsuit will be successful or not. Trump\u2019s lawsuits are not about winning or losing: They are about sending a message designed to intimidate others into submission and silence. Same goes for his Executive Orders targeting everything from Act Blue to universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This potential lawsuit is intended to scare other artists into not boycotting the Kennedy Center out of fear Trump will sue them\u2014or use the power of the government to target them from IRS audits (like Richard Nixon<\/a> did) to trumped up BS investigations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Controlling the arts and artists is right from the far-right playbook. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin made control of the arts<\/a> one of his priorities–utilizing the arts to further Stalin\u2019s \u201ccult of personality\u201d<\/a> as well as by creating an idealized version of the Soviet Union. And those artists who refused to submit to Stalin were dubbed an \u201cenemy of the people\u201d and then punished<\/a> \u2014including interrogation, torture, humiliating public trials, and execution. Trump now threatening to destroy this musician for defying him is right from the Stalin playbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And like so much of Trump\u2019s actions this second term, Trump\u2019s control of arts institutions like the Kennedy Center follows the lead of Hungarian leader Viktor Orban\u2014a close ally of Trump. As a 2022 report<\/a> noted, \u201cOrb\u00e1n\u2019s government implemented a new cultural policy in order to advance a single nationalist narrative and define alternative viewpoints as anti-Hungarian.\u201d This included appointing Orban loyalists to the board of arts organizations just as Trump has with the Kennedy Center. The impact in Hungary has been \u201climiting creative expression and diminishing plurality in the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must stand with Chuck Redd\u2014just like we did with Jimmy Kimmel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a>
Chuck Redd performing at past Kennedy Center Christmas show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How? Well for starters, you can express your support for him on social media. You can also send him a message directly as I did via his Instagram account<\/a> offering your support for his courageous stand. (Redd has a website<\/a> but the \u201cContact\u201d information is missing\u2014not sure if that was because Trumpers were attacking him or if this predates this issue.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Trump sues Redd, the hope is the ACLU or other lawyers will volunteer to represent him. But if not, we should collectively crowdfund for his legal fees.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump is weakened politically. He is at his lowest point in approval ratings plus his mental and physical decline is undeniable. But he is still very dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why we must stand united when he seeks to silence anyone who has the courage to stand up to him. We need to send a message to all contemplating taking such a stand that we will have your back. That will hopefully incentivize others to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History tells us that when confronted with a fascist threat: Alone we will be crushed. But together, we can win. That is why we must stand up for Chuck Redd!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump is following Stalin’s playbook Dean Obeidallah Dec 28, 2025 (deanobeidallah.substack.com) The Trump regime has a message for all musicians and artists who dare to stand up to Donald Trump: They will destroy you! I\u2019m not exaggerating. That is the threat by the Trump appointed head of the Kennedy Center, Richard Grenell… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45795"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45797,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45795\/revisions\/45797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}