Kennedy Center says it will appeal fee award

Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center must pay jazz musician Chuck Redd $252,479.70 to cover attorneys’ fees and other legal costs, a Superior Court judge in the district ruled Monday, months after the arts center sued the vibraphonist and drummer over a concert he canceled in protest after President Trump’s name was added to the venue’s facade last December.

Redd had hosted the center’s annual Christmas Eve performance for nearly 20 years. The Kennedy Center responded to the cancellation by vowing to sue Redd for $1 million in damages.

In June, Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier dismissed the center’s breach of contract suit against Redd, granting his motion to dismiss under the district’s anti-SLAPP statute, a law designed to protect public interest speech. In her ruling Monday, the judge ordered the Kennedy Center to pay Redd $252,479.70 to cover attorneys’ fees and other legal costs. The Kennedy Center said in a statement that it intended to appeal.

One of Redd’s attorneys, Lisa J. Banks, said in a statement emailed to NPR on Tuesday that the ruling was appropriate. “No citizen should have to spend time and money fending off baseless and politically motivated lawsuits filed by the Trump Administration,” Banks said.

Trump, who ousted the Kennedy Center’s previous president, board chair and board members in February 2025 and replaced them with close allies and supporters, remains chairman of the center. In June, the center removed the president’s name from the complex’s facade, following a federal court ruling.

The future of the Kennedy Center remains uncertain, with most of its public programming and educational activities still suspended. Trump had announced that he planned to close the complex as of July 5 for two years of extensive renovations, but the Federal District Court in Washington has ordered the complex’s administration to update the court on its plans regarding construction, programming and public access.

Judge Christopher R. Cooper, presiding in that case, granted the board time to research and vote on those plans. The board is slated to meet this month to vote on a plan going forward. Last week, The Washington Post reported that Democratic lawmakers on the center’s board, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), had yet to receive any updated assessments or plans to review prior to the meeting. NPR has reached out to Sen. Whitehouse’s office for current comment, but did not receive an immediate reply.