A potential legal situation arose when Chuck Redd cancelled his annual Christmas Eve Jam concert at the venue either called the Kennedy Center or the Trump/Kennedy Center. Redd canceled the Christmas Eve Jam concert with the stated reason being the name change.
The new director of the center, Richard Grenell, sent a letter expressing an intent to sue Redd for the cancellation. I think it’s an interesting legal question that I will explore in this blog. I give my usual disclaimer about my legal ramblings, I am not a lawyer, not do I play one on television.
Contract
This seems to me to be a Contract Law situation. Redd presumably signed some sort of contract to play and Grenell wants to hold him to that.
There are several legal questions to examine. The contract presumably listed the name of the venue as its original name, not its new name. Is the contract void immediately upon the name change? There is also the complete overhaul of the governing board. Presumably Redd signed the contract along with the previous head of the organization. Does this void the contract?
Name Change
Let’s get into the name change first as that seems to be the main factor for cancelling the Christmas Eve Jam. Venues change their names all the time. Sports stadiums in particular sell the naming right to the highest bidder year after year. I would think there is some legal precedent for a case of this nature but so far, I haven’t read anything about such a previous case.
Another angle is simply if the new name is offensive to the artist. Would you expect Redd to honor the contract if the name change was to the Osama bin Laden Center? Or a Jewish artist to play at the newly named Adolph Hitler Center? Or Cambodian artist at the Pol Pot Center?
I think these are legitimate questions. It’s not my job to determine if Redd doesn’t like the new name. If he says he doesn’t like it, then I presume he does not.
Governing Board Change
The entire governing board of the center was changed and this is another potential issue. Again, perhaps Redd has a personal grudge with Grenell. Would you hold an artist to the contract if the new director murdered their child?
It’s basically the same issue as the name change but a different situation.
The underlying question is if someone, in this case Redd and the Christmas Eve Jam, should be held to a contract they signed before a major change took place.
Conclusion
I certainly don’t know the legal answer to this question but I am inclined to give the artist the ability to cancel under such circumstances without being sued for breech of contract. I’m not sure the case will ever see a courtroom but if it does, I’ll be quite interested in the outcome.
What do you think?
Tom Liberman