Overview
- D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier ordered on Monday that the Kennedy Center must pay Chuck Redd $252,479.70 in attorneys’ fees and costs and gave the institution 45 days to make the payment.
- Judge Bosier dismissed the Center’s breach-of-contract suit in June, finding no signed agreement for the 2025 Christmas Eve performance and applying the District’s Anti-SLAPP law to protect Redd’s public protest.
- Redd canceled the long-running free Christmas Eve “Jazz Jam” in December 2025 after the Trump-appointed board voted to add President Donald Trump’s name to the façade and he publicly explained his reason for withdrawing.
- The Center publicly threatened large damages and pursued the March 2026 lawsuit against Redd despite multiple other artists cancelling shows after the renaming, and the court noted Redd was the only performer publicly sued.
- The fee award follows a separate federal ruling that the board lacked authority to rename the John F. Kennedy Center and ordered Trump’s name removed, and the Center has said it intends to appeal the Superior Court order.