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In
a motion filed in D.C. Superior Court on Friday, lawyers for
Redd said the breach of contract suit should be dismissed
because he wasn't contractually obligated to perform. The motion
included the contract provided by the Kennedy Center, which the
artist never signed.
But his lawyers argued there was more at stake than contract
law, portraying the Kennedy Center's suit as an effort to
intimidate artists.
“The Trump Kennedy Center filed this lawsuit to send a message
to anyone who dares to publicly disagree with the decisions of
those in power,” lawyers Debra S. Katz and Lisa J. Banks said in
a statement.
Representatives for the Kennedy Center didn't immediately
respond to a request for comment on the motion.
Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with
everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has 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.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and
then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our
concert,” Redd told The Associated Press in an email at the
time.
Within days of his decision, Richard Grenell, the Kennedy
Center's president at the time, sent him a letter calling the
cancellation “classic intolerance and very costly to a nonprofit
Arts institution.” Grenell threatened to seek $1 million in
damages and the Kennedy Center filed suit on March 6.
Grenell left his post earlier this month and was replaced by
Matt Floca, who previously managed the Kennedy Center’s
facilities operations. Trump is closing the Kennedy Center later
this summer for renovations that are expected to last roughly
two years.
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Associated Press writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed to
this report
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