a more formal statement on her website<\/a>, Lee said that the Kennedy Center had been established \u201cas a nonpartisan national cultural institution, honoring President John F. Kennedy\u2019s belief that the arts are essential to democracy, free expression, and the public good.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cRecent efforts to impose political branding on the Center represent a departure from that mission and compromise the independence such an institution requires,\u201d said the statement. \u201cAs an artist, Kristy believes publicly funded cultural spaces must remain free from political capture, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Center was created to honor art, culture, and shared national purpose,\u201d Lee said. \u201cUsing it for personal promotion diminishes its meaning and erodes the dignity owed to the legacy of a fallen president.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roma Daravi, the center\u2019s vice president of public relations, said the name change did not signal a shift in values.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump Kennedy Center is a true bipartisan institution that welcomes artists and patrons from all backgrounds\u2014great art transcends politics, and America\u2019s cultural center remains committed to presenting popular programming that inspires and resonates with all audiences,” said Daravi.<\/p>\n
In her online statement, Lee thanked fans who\u2019d shown their support via donations. \u201cThat kind of kindness keeps gas in the tank and songs on the road, and I don\u2019t take it lightly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said that she plans to stream a live show on Jan. 14 instead, \u201cfor anyone who wants to watch from their couch. I know money\u2019s tight and travel\u2019s hard right now. Let\u2019s stay connected through the music. Thanks for having my back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Good Morning America\u2019 will report live from this Alabama town on Thursday<\/p>\n
Long-running Alabama beach music festival called off for 2026, Gulf Shores mayor says<\/p>\n
20 colleges with the richest graduates<\/p>\n
Quarterback, singers with Alabama ties make Forbes \u201830 under 30\u2032 rankings<\/p>\n
Oyster season closes Tuesday after worst harvest in years<\/p>\n
Read the original article on al.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Alabama artist has announced she\u2019s canceling a show at the Kennedy Center, following a change in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[180323,236,12,88,51879,180322],"class_list":{"0":"post-367026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-alabama-artist","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-kennedy-center","13":"tag-kristy-lee"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}