Kennedy Center Ordered to Pay Jazz Musician Chuck Redd More Than $250,000 in Legal Fees After Breach of Contract Case Was Dismissed
WASHINGTON, DC — A Washington judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay jazz musician Chuck Redd more than $250,000 in legal fees after the institution lost a breach of contract case tied to a canceled holiday concert.
The ruling adds another turn to a dispute that grew out of Redd’s decision to pull out of the Center’s annual Christmas Eve performance last year.
Why Redd canceled the concert
Redd said he backed away after President Donald Trump attempted to rename the building after himself. He later said he changed course after seeing the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then on the building hours later.
The cancellation set off a legal fight, with the Kennedy Center suing Redd in March for breach of contract. A D.C. judge dismissed that case earlier in the summer.
The judge said the fee request was justified
DC Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier ruled that Redd’s lawyers were entitled to nearly all of the fees they sought. She also rejected objections to the request, calling them “out of all proportion to the issue at stake.”
The order means the Kennedy Center must now cover a substantial legal bill on top of losing the underlying case.
The building still shows the fallout
As of August, the Kennedy Center’s exterior remains covered by a tarp after a court ordered the president’s name to be removed from the building.
The continued covering underscores how the naming dispute has spilled beyond the concert cancellation and into the center’s public image.
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