Trump’s Kennedy Center Ordered to Pay $250,000 to Jazz Musician Who Defeated Lawsuit

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.

Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier in Washington, D.C., awarded more than $250,000 in legal fees to Redd on Monday (Aug. 10), two months after she dismissed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ breach of contract claims against him. A spokesperson for the national performing arts venue, which Trump has chaired since early 2025, told Billboard that they intend to appeal the fee amount. Redd’s attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment.

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.

Redd asked for $258,000 in fees for work performed by a team at the boutique litigation firm Katz Banks Kumin. Judge Bosier largely granted that request on Monday, just slightly reducing the amount to $252,000.

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.