Kennedy Center Must Pay $252K to Jazz Musician It Sued
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- D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier ordered the Kennedy Center to pay $252,000 in legal fees and costs to jazz musician Chuck Redd, finding the amount reasonable for the work his attorneys put in
- Chuck Redd pulled out of the Kennedy Center's Christmas Eve 2025 concert, citing "the defiant and illegal name change happening to the Kennedy Center" after the venue was rebranded to include Trump's name
- Judge Jones Bosier dismissed the breach-of-contract lawsuit in June, ruling there was no signed agreement: "There's no dispute that he did not sign the 2025 agreement"
- Richard Grenell, then-president of the Kennedy Center, threatened Redd with $1 million in damages in a letter after he backed out, calling it a "political stunt"
- Kennedy Center attorneys secretly offered to drop the suit if Redd paid them $7,500 and performed at Christmas Eve 2026 with no political commentary about his 2025 withdrawal
- On May 29, a federal judge ordered removal of Trump's name from the Kennedy Center façade, ruling the board's move to add it was illegal — the exterior is still covered by tarp after workers pried the name off
Why it matters: The $252,000 fee award — on top of an already-dismissed lawsuit — means the Kennedy Center's backers footed the bill for a politically motivated suit designed to punish a performer who exercised protected opposition speech. Redd walks away with full cost recovery and vindication, while the fee ruling exposes the institution's aggressive posture: from Grenell's $1 million threat to demanding $7,500 from Redd to make the case disappear.
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