Judge awards $252,480 to musician who canceled Kennedy Center performance

Kennedy Center had sued Chuck Redd for canceling Christmas Eve concert after Trump renamed institution 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. 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. 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. Red