Lawyers for musician Chuck Reed say a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed his breach-of-contract lawsuit against Reed after… The Christmas Eve show has been cancelled in Kennedy Center In protest of President Donald Trump’s influence on the venue.
The dismissal was granted on Friday according to a Washington decision Anti-SLAPP Lawswhich is designed to prevent meritless lawsuits aimed at silencing opposing viewpoints on matters of public concern.
Reid, a drummer and vibraphonist who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has been headlining the Kennedy Center’s holiday “Jazz Jams” since 2006. He canceled last year’s performance shortly after Trump’s hand-picked board at the Kennedy Center voted in favor. Add the president’s name To the facility.
“The center filed a lawsuit against Mr. Reed because he publicly and rightly objected to the addition of Donald Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center, a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy,” Lisa J. Banks, one of Reid’s attorneys, said in a statement. “The lawsuit against Mr. Reid was political retaliation, plain and simple, by the Trump Kennedy Center, and the court correctly saw it that way in dismissing the case with prejudice.”
Reed told The Associated Press in an email Saturday morning that he was “very pleased with the judge’s ruling.”
Motion to dismiss, Submitted in Marchargued that Redd was not contractually obligated to perform. It included a contract provided by the Kennedy Center, which the artist never signed.
Kennedy Center representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit’s dismissal.