Kennedy Center Ordered to Cover Jazz Musician’s Legal Fees After Failed Lawsuit

Washington, D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier granted jazz trumpeter Chuck Redd’s motion for the Kennedy Center to pay his legal costs. The judge set the fee award at $252,479.70, describing it as appropriate for the time Redd’s attorneys spent on the case.

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In late 2025 the Kennedy Center’s board, reshaped after President Donald Trump returned to office, voted to add the former president’s name to the venue. The decision prompted several musicians, including Redd, to cancel scheduled performances. Redd had performed his annual Christmas Eve Jazz Jam at the Center every year since 2006; he withdrew from the 2025 program in protest. In response, then-Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell threatened a $1 million lawsuit, which was formally filed in March as a breach-of-contract claim. The court dismissed the claim in June, finding that Redd had never signed a contract for the 2025 event.

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• Chuck Redd – jazz musician who cancelled the 2025 concert in protest.

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• Lisa J. Banks – attorney representing Redd.

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• Tanya Jones Bosier – D.C. Superior Court judge who awarded the legal-fee payment.

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• Richard Grenell – Kennedy Center president at the time of the threatened lawsuit.

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• Donald Trump – president whose influence over the Center’s board prompted the name-change controversy.

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• Legal-fee award: $252,479.70 (more than $250,000).

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• Threatened counter-suit amount: $1 million.

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• Timeline: lawsuit filed in March 2025; motion to dismiss granted in June 2025; fee award issued later in the year.

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Redd’s attorney, Lisa J. Banks, said the ruling affirmed that citizens should not have to bear the cost of defending against politically motivated lawsuits. The Kennedy Center did not provide an immediate comment when contacted.

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