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Kennedy Center must pay $250,000 in legal fees to musician who canceled in protest

posted by Kristi Wachter on
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Chuck Redd canceled his annual Christmas Eve performance to protest Trump's name being added to the complex. In June, a superior court judge dismissed the Kennedy Center's lawsuit against Redd.
NPR Anastasia Tsioulcas
Excerpt:

A superior court judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay more than $250,000 to a jazz musician who last December canceled the annual Christmas Eve performance he had hosted there for nearly 20 years. Chuck Redd, a vibraphonist and drummer, decided to cancel the concert after President Trump's name was added to the facade of the arts center that month.

After Redd canceled the performance, the Kennedy Center vowed to sue Redd for $1 million in damages. In June, Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier dismissed the center's breach of contract suit against Redd, granting his motion to dismiss the case under the district's anti-SLAPP statute, a law designed to protect public interest speech.

In her ruling Monday, the judge decreed that the Kennedy Center must pay Redd $252,479.70 to cover attorneys' fees and other legal costs.

posted by Kristi Wachter on

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