A judge in Washington, D.C., appointed by Joe Biden, has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay $250,000 in legal fees after the center attempted to sue jazz musicians for canceling performances in opposition to President Donald Trump.
Musician Chuck Redd decided to cancel his Christmas Eve concert at the Kennedy Center because he disagreed with the addition of Trump’s name to the venue, a place where he had performed for many years. In a statement, Redd described the name change as “rebellious and illegal”.
In response, the organization, then referred to as the Trump Kennedy Center, threatened to sue the musicians for $1 million, claiming they had breached their contract.
Redd’s legal team contended that the lawsuit was an act of “political retaliation” against Redd for his choice to withdraw from the event due to his opposition to Trump. The center maintained that Redd had a standing agreement to perform and asserted that his cancellation was a political statement.
However, in June, Judge Tanya M. Jones Borger dismissed the case, noting that the Trump administration had not demonstrated that Redd had a concert agreement.
Following the dismissal, Judge Borger ordered the Trump administration to reimburse the musician $252,000 for legal fees and costs.
Redd’s attorney, Lisa J. Banks, expressed satisfaction with the ruling.
She stated, “The Kennedy Center, under Trump’s influence, tried to suppress dissent regarding the name change by filing a baseless lawsuit against Chuck Redd. The court was right to dismiss the contract claim, as there was no valid contract or damages. It’s fitting that the Kennedy Center must now cover Redd’s legal fees, as taxpayers shouldn’t have to deal with politically motivated and unfounded lawsuits from the Trump administration.”
Before Judge Borger’s ruling, Judge Christopher R. Cooper, appointed by Barack Obama, had previously decided that the Trump administration needed to remove Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center signage, stating, “Congress named the Kennedy Center, and only Congress has the authority to change that name.”
