A judge in Washington, D.C., United States, ordered the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Monday to pay jazz musician Chuck Redd $252,000 in legal fees and costs after the center’s breach of contract lawsuit against him was dismissed.
Redd had hosted and performed at the center’s annual Christmas Eve concerts for years, but withdrew from last December’s planned concert, citing “the defiant and illegal name change happening to the Kennedy Center.” The center, then temporarily known as the Trump Kennedy Center and controlled by allies of former President Donald J. Trump, threatened to sue Redd and later filed a breach of contract lawsuit. Richard Grenell, then president of the center, wrote to Redd after his withdrawal: “This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt.”
In June, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that there was no signed contract to be breached. Redd had been in talks to perform on Christmas Eve 2025, as in past years, but Jones Bosier said: “I could not find a valid breach-of-contract claim here. There’s no dispute that he did not sign the 2025 agreement.” The Kennedy Center had argued that Redd had “agreed to a written contract” to perform for $6,500, regardless of whether he signed it.
Attorney statement and fee ruling#
“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 court rightly dismissed that breach of contract lawsuit, finding there was no contract and no damages, and was brought against Mr. Redd based on his protected opposition. Now the court has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay Mr. Redd’s legal fees, which is appropriate as no citizen should have to spend time and money fending off baseless and politically motivated lawsuits filed by the Trump Administration.”
Lisa J. Banks, one of Redd’s attorneys, issued that statement Tuesday. Before Monday’s ruling, attorneys for the Kennedy Center argued that the requested amount was “out of all proportion to the issue at stake,” but Jones Bosier found $252,000 reasonable for the work Redd’s lawyers had to perform.
Settlement offer and name removal order#
According to Redd’s attorneys, the center had secretly offered to settle the lawsuit before the judge dismissed it. The proposed terms required Redd to:
- pay the center $7,500
- play on Christmas Eve 2026 with no political commentary or discussion of his reasons for backing out in 2025
On May 29, a federal judge ordered the removal of Donald J. Trump’s name from the façade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ruling that the board’s move to add Trump’s name was illegal. The exterior of the Kennedy Center remains covered by a tarp after workers pried Trump’s name off the building, and a judge has asked the board to explain why the covering has not been removed.
