Chuck Redd faced litigation after pulling out of a Christmas Eve concert in protest of the venue adding Donald Trump's name to its moniker.
A judge has ruled that the Kennedy Center must reimburse jazz musician Chuck Redd for a failed lawsuit over his decision to pull out of a concert at the historic venue after President Donald Trump’s name was added to the building.
The dispute began in December, when the venue’s Trump-controlled board briefly renamed it the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Redd cancelled his performance at the center’s annual Christmas Eve Jazz Jam in protest of the name change, leading to legal threats from the venue’s then-president, Richard Grenell.
In March, the center sued Redd for allegedly violating his performance contract “in order to make a political statement.”.
Judge Bosier threw out the lawsuit in June after determining that Redd had not actually signed a binding contract for the show. Because she dismissed the claims under D.
C.’s anti-SLAPP statute — a law designed to deter litigation that infringes free speech — Redd was entitled to recover his legal fees spent on the case.
Meanwhile, the venue’s name has since been restored to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts following a ruling in a separate court case. In June, a federal judge held that only Congress, not the center’s board, has the authority to add Trump’s name to its moniker.
That judge also temporarily blocked Trump’s planned closure of the center for renovations. An appeal is ongoing.
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