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Kennedy Center's lawsuit against Chuck Redd dismissed

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FOX Local
U.S.
Published June 11, 2026 3:50 PM EDT
Published June 11, 2026 3:50 PM EDT
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FILE-The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is lit in red, white, and blue and reflected in the Potomac River at dusk on May 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by J. David Ake/Getty Images)

The Brief 

    • A judge tossed out a lawsuit filed by the Kennedy Center against Chuck Redd.
    • Kennedy Center officials accused the musician of backing out of an agreement to perform at a Christmas Eve concert because of his opposition to the center being renamed after President Donald Trump. 
    • In May, a federal judge blocked the closure and the renaming of the Kennedy Center to include President Donald Trump.

A Kennedy Center breach-of-contract lawsuit against a jazz musician was dismissed by a judge last week.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier stated that Kennedy Center officials didn’t show they made a legally binding agreement with Chuck Redd to perform at the center’s annual Christmas Eve concert like he did in previous years, The Washington Post reported. 

What was the Kennedy Center and Chuck Redd lawsuit?

Dig deeper:

Chuck Redd told the Kennedy Center that he opted to drop out of performing at the venue over the board voting to rename the center after President Donald Trump. 

The Washington Post reported that attorneys representing the Kennedy Center contended that although Redd didn’t sign a written contract, he "agreed to a written contract" in November 2025 which obligated the musician to perform a one-hour concert on Christmas Eve for $6,500.

RELATED: Judge blocks renaming of Kennedy Center after Trump

When Redd decided not to perform in the holiday concert, Richard Grenell, then the Kennedy Center’s president, threatened to sue Redd for $1 million in damages, which Grenell told Redd in a December 2025 letter obtained by The Washington Post. 

In March, the Kennedy Center went through with the lawsuit, but later attempted to settle with Redd, The Washington Post reported, citing a court filing. 

The Kennedy Center would drop the lawsuit if Redd paid the organization $7,500, played at the Christmas Eve concert, and made no political comments about his reason for withdrawing from the event. 

This latest development involving the Kennedy Center and Redd follows a federal judge’s ruling in May that ordered the center to remove Trump’s name from official materials, ruling that a Trump-led board of trustees illegally added it to the performing arts venue in December 2025. 

According to The Washington Post, Thursday, the Kennedy Center’s general counsel sent a memo informing workers to remove all references to Trump, restoring the center’s title to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The Source: Information for this story was provided by The Washington Post, which references court documents related to the Kennedy Center and Chuck Redd case. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.


 

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