Judge Orders Kennedy Center to Pay Musician $252,480

A Washington, D.C., superior court judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay more than $250,000 to musician Chuck Redd, who canceled a Christmas Eve performance at the venue after Donald Trump's name was added to it.

Judge Tanya Jones Bosier ruled Monday that the Kennedy Center must pay Redd $252,479.70 in legal fees and costs within 45 days. The Kennedy Center had originally sued Redd after he pulled out of the concert, but in June the judge dismissed that lawsuit, ruling in Redd's favor under the district's anti-SLAPP statute, which protects people from lawsuits designed to silence protected speech. Redd then asked the court to make the Kennedy Center reimburse his legal costs.

A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the organization intends to appeal.

When Redd canceled last year, Trump-appointed Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell called the decision a "political stunt" and threatened to sue for $1 million in damages.

Redd canceled 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 subsequently added to the building's facade and its digital materials.

But a federal judge ruled in May that the board lacked the authority to rename the Kennedy Center and ordered the Trump references removed from the building and its official communications. The administration is also blocked from closing the arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to begin in July and last two years. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper requested detailed documentation on how the closure would affect the Kennedy Center.

According to a document of the planned renovations obtained by Axios, the work could include polishing the building's Carrara marble facade, remodeling its grand halls and theaters, and moving some marquee events offsite over the next few years.