A superior court judge in Washington DC has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay more than $250,000 to a musician who cancelled a performance at the arts centre. The cancellation occurred 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 cancelled a Christmas Eve concert.
In June, the judge dismissed the Kennedy Center’s lawsuit and ruled in Redd’s favour under the district’s anti-Slapp statute. Redd then requested that the court make the Kennedy Center reimburse him for his legal costs. A Kennedy Center spokesperson stated that the organisation intends to appeal the decision.
Redd's decision to cancel came 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." However, a federal judge ruled in May that the board did not have the authority to rename the Kennedy Center and ordered the Trump references removed.