Judge tosses Kennedy Center suit against musician who canceled Christmas Eve show

A bust of President John F. Kennedy is displayed in the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, June 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Attorneys for musician Chuck Redd say a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed a breach of contract lawsuit filed against Redd after he canceled a Christmas Eve performance at the Kennedy Center in protest of U.S. President Donald Trump’s influence over the venue.

The dismissal on Friday was granted under Washington’s Anti-SLAPP laws, which are designed to prevent meritless lawsuits intended to silence opposing points of view on matters of public interest.

Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, had presided over holiday “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006. He called off last year’s performance shortly after Trump’s handpicked board at the Kennedy Center voted to add the president’s name to the facility.

“The Center sued Mr. Redd because he publicly and rightly objected to adding Donald Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center, a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy,” Lisa J. Banks, one of Redd’s lawyers, said in a statement. ”The lawsuit against Mr. Redd was political retribution, pure and simple, by the Trump Kennedy Center, and the Court correctly saw it as such in dismissing the case with prejudice.”

Redd told The Associated Press in an email Saturday morning that he is “very pleased with the judge’s ruling.”

The motion to dismiss, filed in March, argued that Redd wasn’t contractually obligated to perform. It included the contract provided by the Kennedy Center, which the artist never signed.

• READ MORE: Musician who cancelled Kennedy Center holiday performance asks for suit to be dismissed

Representatives for the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit’s dismissal.

Melissa Goldin, The Associated Press