Kennedy Center Ordered to Pay Musician $252,000
Kennedy Center Ordered to Pay Musician $252,000
The News
A D.C. Superior Court judge ordered the Kennedy Center to pay jazz drummer Chuck Redd $252,479.70 in legal fees and costs after the arts institution unsuccessfully sued him. The center had taken Redd to court for canceling a Christmas Eve concert in protest after President Donald Trump's name was added to the building. Associate Judge Tanya Jones Bosier signed the order Monday.
Timeline
Redd had led the Kennedy Center's Christmas Eve Jazz Jam since 2006. After Trump's name was added to the complex, Redd canceled his annual performance in protest.
The center sued Redd, at one point threatening $1 million in damages, and offered to drop the case if he paid $7,500 and performed again without political comment.
In June, Jones Bosier dismissed the center's breach-of-contract lawsuit, finding no signed contract existed and that Redd's public statement was protected under D.C.'s anti-SLAPP statute.
The judge ordered the center to pay Redd's legal fees — about $6,000 less than he had sought.
Reactions
Left-leaning outlets framed the lawsuit as retaliation against protected speech. The judge noted that multiple artists canceled performances but only Redd — the one who spoke publicly — was sued. The center's legal team called the fee award disproportionate for a case it described as not complex.
What's Next
The payment deadline is 45 days from Monday's order. It remains unclear whether the Kennedy Center will appeal the award or pay within that window.
More
In a separate matter, a federal judge ordered the center to remove Trump's name from the building. A tarp still covers the facade, and the judge has asked the board to explain why the original name remains concealed.
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