A former White House aide who now runs PR for the Kennedy Center accused the latest star to boycott the iconic arts venue of encouraging “discrimination” by her decision.
Sonia De Los Santos, a Mexican-born singer-songwriter, announced on Thursday she was canceling a planned performance because of the Trump administration’s policies.
“As an artist, I treasure the freedom to create and share my music, and for many years I have used this privilege to uplift the stories of immigrants in this country,” the Grammy-nominated musician wrote on Instagram about her decision to cancel her Feb. 7 performance at the center. “Unfortunately, I do not feel that the current climate at this beloved venue represents a welcoming space for myself, my band, or our audience.”
“As a woman of color and a Mexican-American immigrant, I believe this decision is an important example for younger generations.”
In a statement to the Associated Press, Kennedy Center PR chief Roma Daravi challenged De Los Santos’ framing and her reference to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
“This country was built on legal immigrants and as a first generation American, I find her statement highly offensive,” wrote Daravi, 32, who is of Persian Jewish origin and served in the first Trump White House. “Refusing to engage with an institution open to everyone is, in fact, a step towards discrimination.”
De Los Santos is the latest in a long line of artists to cancel their performances at the Kennedy Center, which President Donald Trump has attempted to rebrand as The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Performing Arts.
A December lawsuit challenged the rebrand, arguing that it was void because only Congress can change the center’s name.
Other artists who have canceled scheduled performances include folk singer Kristy Lee, saxophonist Billy Harper, and the Oscar-winning Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, who took part in the center’s opening gala in 1971 but said that it “no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be.”
Grammy-winning bluegrass musician Béla Fleck also withdrew from three scheduled performances with the National Symphony Orchestra set to take place next month, citing politics as his reason for doing so.
“Performing there has become charged and political, at an institution where the focus should be on the music,” Fleck wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. “I look forward to playing with the NSO another time in the future when we can together share and celebrate art.”
Fleck’s withdrawal earned him a sharp rebuke from the center’s president and executive director, Richard Grenell. Grenell wrote on X of Fleck’s decision that he had “caved to the woke mob who wants you to perform for only Lefties.”
“This mob pressuring you will never be happy until you only play for Democrats.”
The Kennedy Center was also hit with a wave of cancellations following Trump’s initial takeover of the venue in February, which included firing the board, replacing fired board members with his supporters, and installing himself as chair.
Among those cancellations was Hamilton, which was scheduled to be performed at the center for March and April 2026, with producer Jeffrey Seller sharing a statement on social media to explain the decision.
A statement from Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller. pic.twitter.com/yTLlrzFAHW
— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) March 5, 2025
“Some institutions are sacred and should be protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is one such institution,” Seller wrote in a statement posted on X.
“In recent weeks we have sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed. The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents.”
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