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The organization tried to sue Chuck Redd for backing out of an annual Christmas eve gig, but a judge dismissed the suit in June<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\tThe Kennedy Center<\/a> will have to pay more than $250,000 to cover the legal fees of a jazz musician it tried, and failed, to sue<\/a> for canceling a concert<\/a> in protest of President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s takeover of the cultural institution<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tOn Monday, Washington D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier granted musician Chuck Redd\u2019s motion requesting that the Kennedy Center cover his costs related to the failed lawsuit. While the Kennedy Center\u2019s lawyers argued the sum Redd was seeking was \u201cout of all proportion to the issue at stake,\u201d Jones Bosier found the amount of $252,479.70 appropriate for the amount of time Redd\u2019s lawyers put into the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn a statement, Redd\u2019s lawyer, Lisa J. Banks, celebrated the ruling: \u201cThe 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\u2019s 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.\u201d (A lawyer for the Kennedy Center did not immediately return a request for comment.)<\/p>\n \n\tRedd was one of several musicians to cancel Kennedy Center gigs<\/a> in late 2025 after the institution\u2019s board \u2014 which the president stacked with cronies<\/a> after returning to office \u2014 voted to add Trump\u2019s name to the venue. In response, Redd nixed his annual Christmas Eve Jazz Jam, which he\u2019s done at the Kennedy Center every year since 2006.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThen-Kennedy Center\u00a0president Richard Grenell threatened to sue Redd<\/a> for $1 million, and a lawsuit was formally brought in a breach of contract suit in March. Redd moved to dismiss the case and, in June, Jones Bosier granted his motion.<\/p>\n