Business

Kennedy Center seeks $1 million in damages from musician who canceled show after Trump name added

Published

2 hours ago

December 27, 2025

The president of the Kennedy Center on Friday fiercely criticized a musician’s sudden decision to cancel a Christmas Eve performance at the venue days after the White House announced that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility.

“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” the venue’s president, Richard Grenell, wrote in a letter to musician Chuck Redd that was shared with The Associated Press.

In the letter, Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages “for this political stunt.”

Redd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A drummer and vibraphone player, Redd has presided over holiday “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts. In an email Wednesday to The Associated Press, Redd said he pulled out of the concert in the wake of the renaming.

“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd said. He added Wednesday that the event has been a “very popular holiday tradition” and that he often featured at least one student musician.

“One of the many reasons that it was very sad to have had to cancel,” he told the AP.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him.

Grenell is a Trump ally whom the president chose to head the Kennedy Center after he forced out the previous leadership. According to the White House, Trump’s handpicked board approved the renaming, which scholars have said violates the law. Kennedy niece Kerry Kennedy has vowed to remove Trump’s name from the building once he leaves office, and former House historian Ray Smock is among those who say any changes would have to be approved by Congress.

The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior.

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Business

Scott Galloway says the key to landing jobs is be as social as possible

Published

28 minutes ago

December 27, 2025

Jace Porter

Business professor and entrepreneur Scott Galloway shared some career advice for young people struggling to find a job during a recent appearance on Shane Smith’s Vice News podcast, emphasizing how networking and personal connections remain critical to a long and successful career.

During the interview, Galloway highlighted the stark mathematics of modern job searches. “Google puts out a job opening, they get 200 CVs within like eight minutes. They limit it down to the 20 most qualified. Seventy percent of the time, the person they pick is someone who has an internal advocate,” he said.

The advice from Galloway, a marketing professor from the NYU Stern School of Business, aligns with extensive research on hiring patterns. Studies show employee referrals, while representing only 6% to 7% of job applications, account for 37% to 45% of successful hires across various industries, underscoring the importance of making connections. You never know who might be able to help you get your next gig.

The social imperative

Galloway’s advice seems deceptively simple: If you want a great career, you need to make connections in the real world first. “The way you [achieve professional success] as a young person is you go out, you make friends, you drink, and at every possible opportunity, you help that person out,” he said, also recommending speaking well of others behind their backs and positioning yourself to be remembered when opportunities come up.

“You want to be placed in rooms of opportunities when you’re not physically there,” Galloway said, emphasizing effective networking creates advocates who will recommend you for positions even when you’re not actively job searching.

The professor drew parallels to high school social dynamics to illustrate his point.

“The most successful people in high school aren’t the best looking [or] the best athletes, they’re the ones that like other people the most. The kid who says, ‘Hey, you know, great game, Brett,’ or ‘Wow, way to go on the basketball team, Lisa.’ The person who shows the most goodwill and like toward other people is the most popular, successful person in high school,” he said.

Research backs up Galloway’s assertion. Referred candidates are 40% more likely to be hired than those sourced through other means, and people hired through internal referrals tend to perform 25% better and stay 70% longer than employees hired through traditional job boards.

This advice extends to current workplace trends around working remotely versus returning to the office. As you might expect, people who go into the office have a clear advantage as they’re able to be more social with colleagues. According to a 2021 study from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics, young professionals working remotely are 38% less likely to receive promotions compared to their office-based counterparts.

You can watch the full interview with Scott Galloway and Shane Smith below.

For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.

A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on October 7, 2025.

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Business

Winter storm cancels more than 1,000 flights in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions as state of emergency declared in N.Y., N.J.

Published

60 minutes ago

December 27, 2025

Jace Porter

More than a thousand flights were canceled or delayed across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions due to snow as thousands took to U.S. roads and airports during the busy travel period between Christmas and New Year’s.

As of Saturday morning, New York City had received just under three inches of snow — roughly half of what some forecasts had predicted. At least 1,500 flights were canceled from Friday night into Saturday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.

Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport posted snow warnings on the social media platform X on Friday, cautioning that weather conditions could cause flight disruptions.

The National Weather Service warned of hazardous travel conditions from the Great Lakes through the northern mid-Atlantic and southern New England, with the potential for tree damage and power outages. Forecasters said the storm was expected to weaken by Saturday morning.

Ahead of the storm, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for more than half of the state. Acting New Jersey Gov. Tahesha Way declared a state of emergency for all of New Jersey, “due to a severe winter storm causing dangerous weather conditions, including heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain.”

“This storm will cause dangerous road conditions and impact holiday travel,” Way said in a statement. “We are urging travelers to avoid travel during the storm and allow crews to tend to the roads. Drivers should plan their travel accordingly, monitor conditions and road closures, and follow all safety protocols.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Business

California drops lawsuit to reinstate federal bullet train funding as high-speed rail authority seeks private investors

Published

2 hours ago

December 27, 2025

Jace Porter

California this week dropped a lawsuit officials filed against the Trump administration over the federal government’s withdrawing of $4 billion for the state’s long-delayed high-speed rail project.

The U.S. Transportation Department slashed funds for the bullet train aimed at connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles in July. The Trump administration has said the California High-Speed Rail Authority had “ no viable plan ” to complete a large segment of the project in the farm-rich Central Valley.

The authority quickly filed a lawsuit, with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom calling the federal government’s decision “a political stunt to punish California.”

The authority said this week that it would focus on other funding sources to complete the project, which is estimated to cost more than $100 billion.

“This action reflects the State’s assessment that the federal government is not a reliable, constructive, or trustworthy partner in advancing high-speed rail in California,” an authority spokesperson said in a statement.

The Transportation Department did not respond to a request for comment. President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have both previously criticized the project as a “train to nowhere.”

“The Railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social in July. “This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED.”

The authority’s decision to drop the lawsuit comes as the group seeks private investors to support the bullet train. The project recently secured $1 billion in annual funding from the state’s cap-and-trade program through 2045.

The program sets a declining limit on total planet-warming emissions in the state from major polluters. Companies must reduce their emissions, buy allowances from the state or other businesses, or fund projects aimed at offsetting their emissions. Money the state receives from the sales funds climate-change mitigation, affordable housing and transportation projects, as well as utility bill credits for Californians.

The rail authority said its shift in focus away from federal funding offers “a new opportunity.”

“Moving forward without the Trump administration’s involvement allows the Authority to pursue proven global best practices used successfully by modern high-speed rail systems around the world,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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