The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. has been ordered to pay jazz musician Chuck Redd $252,000 in legal fees and costs. This decision follows the center’s unsuccessful lawsuit against Redd for canceling a performance after the center temporarily rebranded to include Donald Trump’s name.
Redd, who had hosted and performed at the Kennedy Center’s annual Christmas Eve concerts for years, withdrew from last December’s event. He cited “the defiant and illegal name change happening to the Kennedy Center” as his reason for pulling out. The center, then known as the Trump Kennedy Center, sued Redd for breach of contract, but the case was dismissed in June.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier ruled that there was no signed contract for Redd to breach. She noted that Redd had not signed the 2025 agreement to perform, and thus, there was no valid breach-of-contract claim. The Kennedy Center had argued that Redd had agreed to a written contract to play the gig for $6,500, despite not signing it.
The court found the lawsuit to be politically motivated, aiming to silence Redd’s opposition to the name change. Lisa J. Banks, one of Redd’s attorneys, stated, “The Trump-controlled Kennedy Center tried to silence opposition to its illegal name change by filing a meritless lawsuit against jazz musician Chuck Redd.”
The Kennedy Center, which had threatened Redd with a $1 million lawsuit, offered to settle the case if Redd paid $7,500 and agreed to perform in 2026 without political commentary. However, the court ordered the center to pay Redd’s legal fees, deeming the lawsuit baseless. NBC News reported that the center plans to appeal the decision.
In a related ruling, a federal judge ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center’s facade, declaring the addition illegal. The center’s exterior remains covered by a tarp as the name was removed. The Kennedy Center has been asked to explain why the covering has not been removed.
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