A superior court judge in Washington DC has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay more than $250,000 to a musician who canceled a performance at the arts center after the White House announced that Donald Trump’s name would be added to the venue.
Judge Tanya Jones Bosier ordered the Kennedy Center on Monday to pay $252,479.70 in legal fees and costs to attorneys for musician Chuck Redd within 45 days.
Lawsuit and Anti-SLAPP Ruling
The Kennedy Center had sued Redd after he canceled a Christmas Eve concert at the venue. In June, the judge dismissed the Kennedy Center’s lawsuit and ruled in Redd’s favor under the district’s anti-SLAPP statute, which is designed to protect people from lawsuits seeking to silence protected speech. Redd then requested that the court make the Kennedy Center reimburse him for the legal costs he incurred defending himself.
A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the organization intended to appeal.
Background of the Dispute
When Redd canceled last year, the Trump-appointed Kennedy Center president, Richard Grenell, called the musician’s decision to pull out a “political stunt”, threatening to sue for $1m in damages.
Redd’s decision to cancel came after the Kennedy Center’s Trump-controlled board voted to rename the institution “The Donald J Trump and The John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Trump’s name was then added to the building’s facade and the center’s digital materials.
Federal Ruling on Renaming and Renovations
But a federal judge ruled in May that the board did not have the authority to rename the Kennedy Center and ordered the Trump references removed from the building and the center’s official communications. The administration is also blocked from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years. US district judge Christopher Cooper requested detailed documentation about how the closure would affect the Kennedy Center.
Renovations at the Kennedy Center could include polishing its Carrara marble facade, remodeling its grand halls and theaters, and moving some marquee events offsite over the next few years, according to a document of the planned renovations obtained by Axios on Wednesday.
