Overview
- A D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed the Kennedy Center’s breach-of-contract case against musician Chuck Redd on Friday under Washington, D.C.’s Anti‑SLAPP statute and ruled the center failed to show he signed the 2025 agreement.
- Redd canceled the Kennedy Center’s free Christmas Eve Jazz Jam after the trustees voted to add President Donald Trump’s name to the building, and his lawyers argued the suit was political retribution that targeted public protest.
- The Kennedy Center had sought roughly $1 million in damages and later offered a reported $7,500 settlement that would have required Redd to perform and avoid political commentary, but the judge noted the concert was free and the center did not lose ticket revenue because other artists also withdrew.
- The dismissal follows a separate federal ruling that only Congress can rename the Kennedy Center, a decision that prompted an internal memo directing staff to remove the disputed name and that the center plans to appeal.
- The rulings protect public dissent under Anti‑SLAPP rules, reinforce limits on trustee authority over a federally created memorial, and leave programming, fundraising, and governance questions unresolved as further appeals and litigation proceed.