Kennedy Center Ordered To Pay Jazz Musician Chuck Redd More Than $250,000 In Legal Dispute Over His Opposition To Trump Renaming

The Kennedy Center is being ordered to pay more than $250,000 in attorneys fees and costs to jazz musician Chuck Redd, who was sued after he backed out of a performance when Donald Trump‘s name was added to the arts institution.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier ruled that the center owes Redd $252,479.70, about $6,000 less than he sought in legal and other costs.

Shortly after the center’s board voted in December to add Trump’s name, Redd was among the musicians and artists who canceled performances. He was scheduled to perform at a free Christmas Eve “jazz jam,” but informed the center that he was backing out because he disagreed with the name change. He also emailed a statement to the Associated Press explaining his reason for canceling.

The center sued Redd for breach of contract, with the lawsuit citing a morals clause, claiming that he “chose to abuse the public forum provided to him by the center in order to make a political statement.”

In June, the judge dismissed the center’s lawsuit against Redd, noting that he never signed a contract for the 2025 performance. She also sided with Redd’s contention that his conduct was protected under the D.C. Anti-SLAPP Act.

“Notably, the Center acknowledged at the Hearing that multiple artists canceled their performances leading to the cancelation of the Jazz Jam in its entirety, and Redd acknowledged that he is the only performer to his knowledge to have made a public statement and be sued thereafter,” the judge wrote.

A Kennedy Center spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. In a filing last month, the center’s legal team called the proposed costs “nothing short of astonishing. It is out of all proportion to the issue at stake, the non-complexity of case, the experience needed to handle it, and most importantly, the work needed to defend it.”

In a separate case, a federal judge ordered the center to remove Trump’s name from the building and other materials by June. A tarp now covers part of the facade of the structure, concealing the original name sans that of the president, but the judge has ordered a status update after the board meets again this month.