Jazz musician Chuck Redd abruptly backed out of hosting a Christmas Eve concert at the Trump-Kennedy Center he had hosted since 2006. He decided to cause the administration embarrassment over the renaming of the Kennedy Center. Redd now faces a $1 million lawsuit for the “political stunt,” the head of the performing arts venue Ric Grenell revealed Friday.
The annual “Christmas Eve Jazz Jam” was cancelled after drummer and vibraphone player Chuck Redd pulled out of the holiday tradition in protest of President Trump’s name being added to the iconic venue.
The lawsuit is for damages after he pulled out for “partisan political reasons.”
It’s surprising to the elites that the arts are for everyone.
The left is boycotting the Arts because Trump is supporting the Arts.
But we will not let them cancel shows without consequences.
The Arts are for everyone – and the Left is mad about it. https://t.co/zej4PnBNtz
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) December 27, 2025
Fox News and the Associated Press obtained a letter sent to Redd. Grenell called Redd’s cancellation a “political stunt” in the letter.
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” Grenell, 59, said in the letter.
Venue President Grenell claimed Redd’s group was slow to gain ticket sales. He praised Trump, 79, for rescuing the center “from almost certain destruction” before formally requesting damages from the longtime Christmas Eve Jazz Jam host.
“Your dismal ticket sales and lack of donor support, combined with your last-minute cancellation, have cost us considerably,” Grenell wrote. “This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt.”
The administration has to sue, or others will pull the same stunt.
