AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
The Kennedy Center was ordered to pay $252,000 in legal fees to a musician who canceled his show at the venue after President Donald Trump illegally slapped his name on the building.
Jazz drummer Chuck Redd ditched his scheduled Christmas Eve performance at the Kennedy Center days after Trump added his name to the building’s facade.
The center then sued Redd, 67, for $1 million, claiming a breach of contract, but Redd beat the litigation on June 5 and then sought to have his legal fees paid for, court records showed.
On Tuesday, Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier of the District of Columbia Superior Court found in the musician’s favor, awarding his attorneys $252,479.70, Bloomberg News reported.
The Kennedy Center had opposed the move, but Bosier wasn’t having it.
“The Court notes that the Center’s Opposition was filed beyond the time required by the rules and this Court’s July 24, 2026, order. Additionally, the Opposition exceeds the Court’s fifteen (15) page limit without prior leave of court,” she wrote.
“Notwithstanding the procedural defects and untimeliness, the Court reviewed the Opposition to ensure a fulsome review and reached the same conclusion discussed above.”
Trump announced early in his second term that he was taking over the Kennedy Center, claiming he was “unanimously” elected to the board as chairman.
A rash of controversies has followed, with numerous artists canceling appearances and several lawsuits, including one from the Washington National Opera in which the organization claimed the Kennedy Center owed it $17 million after leaving the center in January.
In February, Trump announced a lengthy renovation project for the building, claiming at one point that, “the place is falling down. It’s horrible. Air conditioning, heating is gonna be ripped out in its entirety.”
The project was expected to close the venue for two years and cost about $200 million, Trump has said.
The post Kennedy Center Ordered to Shell Out Big Bucks to Musician Who Canceled Show After Trump Slapped His Name on the Building first appeared on Mediaite.
