Kennedy Center must pay $250,000 in legal fees to musician who canceled in protest

Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, as seen from the Washington Monument, on Aug. 10.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

A superior court judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay more than $250,000 to a jazz musician who last December canceled the annual Christmas Eve performance he had hosted there for nearly 20 years. Chuck Redd, a vibraphonist and drummer, decided to cancel the concert after President Trump’s name was added to the facade of the arts center that month.

After Redd canceled the performance, the Kennedy Center vowed to sue Redd for $1 million in damages. In June, Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier dismissed the center’s breach of contract suit against Redd, granting his motion to dismiss the case under the district’s anti-SLAPP statute, a law designed to protect public interest speech.

In her ruling Monday, the judge decreed that the Kennedy Center must pay Redd $252,479.70 to cover attorneys’ fees and other legal costs.

NPR requested comment from the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, but did not receive an immediate reply.

In a statement emailed to NPR on Tuesday, one of Redd’s attorneys, Lisa J. Banks, said the ruling was appropriate, adding: “No citizen should have to spend time and money fending off baseless and politically motivated lawsuits filed by the Trump Administration.”

In June, the center removed the president’s name from the complex’s facade, following a federal court ruling. Trump, who ousted the Kennedy Center’s previous president, board chair and board members in February 2025 and replaced them with close allies and supporters, remains chairman.

The future of the Kennedy Center is still uncertain, as most of its public programming and educational activities remain suspended.Trump had announced that he planned to close the complex as of July 5 for two years of extensive renovations, but the Federal District Court in Washington has ordered an update from the complex’s administration on its plans regarding construction, programming, and public access.

The judge in that case, Christopher R. Cooper, had granted the board time to research and vote on those plans. Its board is slated to meet this month to vote on a plan going forward, but last week The Washington Post reported that Democratic lawmakers on the center’s board, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), had yet to receive any updated assessments or plans to review prior to the meeting. NPR has reached out to Sen. Whitehouse’s office for current comment, but did not receive an immediate reply.

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