Key facts
- The Kennedy Center must pay jazz musician Chuck Redd $252,479.70 in legal fees and costs.
- A judge dismissed the Kennedy Center's breach of contract lawsuit against Redd.
- The lawsuit was filed after Redd canceled a concert in protest of the venue's rebranding to include Donald Trump's name.
- The judge found no signed contract existed for the canceled performance.
- The Kennedy Center's former president, Richard Grenell, had threatened to sue Redd for $1 million.
A judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay jazz musician Chuck Redd $252,479.70 in legal fees and costs following the organization's unsuccessful lawsuit against him. Redd had canceled his annual Christmas Eve performance at the venue in protest after its board voted to add Donald Trump's name to the institution.
The Kennedy Center subsequently sued Redd for breach of contract, but D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier dismissed the case in June. The judge found that there was no signed contract for the 2025 performance and that the lawsuit was brought against Redd based on his protected opposition.
Redd's attorneys stated that the lawsuit was a politically motivated attempt to silence opposition to the venue's name change. The former president of the Kennedy Center, Richard Grenell, had previously threatened to sue Redd for $1 million in damages for what he called a "political stunt."
Prior to the judge's dismissal, the Kennedy Center had reportedly offered to settle the lawsuit if Redd paid $7,500 and performed in 2026 without political commentary. The court's decision to award legal fees to Redd is seen as a validation of his stance against what his lawyers described as "baseless and politically motivated lawsuits."