Nashville’s Cheekwood, SB Initiative settling lawsuit over Swan Ball after legal battle

The fight for the Swan Ball is nearly over.

After three months, dozens of legal documents and over 10 hours in court last week, the two sides have reached an agreement. A judge has called off the upcoming court dates and given them a deadline, and now, they've just got to put the settlement in writing.

It's not yet public what they've agreed to.

Attorneys for Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art and the SB Initiative — the group that considers itself the successor to the Swan Ball Committee, the longtime volunteer decision-making and planning body of the gala — filed a notice to the federal judge handling the case that they had reached a "settlement in principle" at a settlement conference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern on Oct. 11.

The filing said they are "working to finalize a written agreement and anticipate imminent settlement of this matter."

Neither SB Initiative nor Cheekwood said they were able to share any details about the agreement.

SB Initiative sued Cheekwood a month after the 2024 Swan Ball, shocking the botanical garden that had hosted the party since its inception in 1963. SB Initiative, which legally incorporated — unbeknownst to Cheekwood — in late May, said Cheekwood had, over the past year or so, locked out the Swan Ball Committee from various programs and bank accounts in order to take control of a party that committee members had always believed operated separately from Cheekwood.

Cheekwood, on the other hand, says that it owns the Swan Ball and that it has an interest in making sure its fundraising dollars are well-stewarded. The Swan Ball has recently donated roughly a third of all funds it raised to Cheekwood, far below industry standards and below what Cheekwood leadership felt was a fair benchmark.

Cheekwood countersued SB Initiative within a month and asked the judge to issue a restraining order against SB Initiative to keep them from using the Swan Ball name. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson denied that request on Sept. 12.

SB Initiative announced in early September that the — or a — 2025 Swan Ball will be at Edwin Warner Park on June 7 and benefit Friends of Warner Parks.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes gave the feuding groups until Nov. 15 to update the court on the status of finalizing the agreement.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, a lins .