The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington was ordered to pay more than $250,000 in legal fees to a musician who canceled a Christmas Eve concert over the venue\u2019s move to add President Donald Trump\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
A judge ruled this week that the lawyers for Charles \u201cChuck\u201d Redd were entitled to nearly all of the fees they asked for after defeating the Kennedy Center\u2019s lawsuit accusing the jazz drummer of breaching a contract to host the holiday \u201cJazz Jam.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The decision Monday marks the latest high-dollar fee ruling in court fights over controversies stemming from Trump\u2019s second term. In recent weeks, judges ordered the US Department of Defense to pay more than $450,000 to attorneys who sued over research funding cuts and directed the National Endowment for the Humanities to set aside money in anticipation of a future million-dollar fee fight.<\/p>\n
The Kennedy Center plans to appeal, according to a statement shared by a spokesperson.<\/p>\n
The fee award \u201cis appropriate as no citizen should have to spend time and money fending off baseless and politically motivated lawsuits filed by the Trump administration,\u201d Redd\u2019s attorney Lisa Banks said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump-controlled Kennedy Center tried to silence opposition to its illegal name change by filing a meritless lawsuit,\u201d Banks said. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Redd had hosted the Christmas jazz concert at the Kennedy Center for years. After Trump\u2019s appointees to the board of trustees voted to add the president\u2019s name to the center, however, Redd announced he wouldn\u2019t perform. The center then sued him.<\/p>\n
A judge dismissed the case in June, finding the Kennedy Center was unlikely to win and had retaliated against Redd for exercising his right to public advocacy. The center later eventually removed Trump\u2019s name from the building after losing a separate court fight.<\/p>\n
DC Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier found that Redd was entitled to recoup legal fees as the \u201cprevailing party.\u201d She rejected the center\u2019s objections to the fee request as \u201cout of all proportion to the issue at stake\u201d and found that Redd\u2019s lawyers had largely asked for \u201creasonable\u201d compensation for their work.<\/p>\n
The case is John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts v. Redd, 2026-CAB-1457, District of Columbia Superior Court.<\/p>\n
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.<\/p>\n
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