Facing drama and politics, Essence Fest looks to make a comeback
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Tens of thousands of people are expected to flock to New Orleans this weekend to bask in the glory of Black excellence. The crowd — mostly women — will hear Michelle Obama speak and watch performances by the likes of Cardi B and Patti LaBelle. They’ll fellowship, shop and enjoy the city’s cuisine.
The Essence Festival of Culture has been held every Fourth of July weekend since 1995, and this year’s comes at a particularly fraught time for the magazine, the event and the country.
Once considered the pinnacle of festivals celebrating the Black experience, the good will attendees had toward the gathering began to crack last year, after social media was flooded with multiple gripes about the lack of on-site organization, late performances and the feeling that it was turning against its core audience, both in focus and values. The latter concern was particularly tied to an eyebrow-raising partnership with Target that came just after the shopping hub was boycotted over its shift away from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
It was not Fyre Fest, but attendees felt they deserved better.
Add to that the political and cultural climate in the country — and in Louisiana in particular, where a recently approved Congressional map eliminated one of its two majority-Black House districts.
Attendees like Rachel L. Grant, an associate professor at the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida, have looked forward to the festival because it is “uniquely designed to really speak to the different aspects of Black society, Black culture and Black history.” But this year’s attendees, some of whom spend thousands of dollars on tickets, travel and accommodations, will be paying close attention, in hopes that last year was an anomaly and not the new normal.
The coming days will answer whether Essence Fest is weathering a midlife crisis or preparing for its homegoing.
A rocky year
In 2025, Grant said she ended up leaving one of the weekend night concerts around 2:30 a.m. as headliners Master P and Boyz II Men took the stage far too late, an apex of annoyance during a tiring and disorganized event.
Other attendees echoed that sentiment on social media, describing the festival as unorganized, chaotic, not leaning into the political concerns of its audience and generally losing its way.
It’s been estimated that more than half a million attendees have headed south during some years to enjoy the multiday festival, which has grown to include not just musical headliners, but turned New Orleans into a beacon of Black beauty, wellness, food, film, books and more.
For the past several years, it’s taken on even more meaning amid attacks on DEI.
What better mission for a magazine — a staple for Black women, both centered on and reflective of their life experiences — than to throw an event that aims to always do the same?
Icing on the cake: Last year it had $321 million in economic impact, contributed $182.6 million to regional GDP and supported more than 2,400 jobs, according to the festival’s organizers.
The pressure to get it right, however, is real, as are the consequences of falling short, which is how Deja Zhane, a beauty influencer, felt after monitoring online reaction from those attending last year.
Zhane went viral after she posted a video last year taking Essence to task for what she viewed as an intentional shift toward trying to make the festival more appealing to a global audience than focusing on its core African American supporters.
She told CNN she noticed the same thing with the magazine, which for years catered to more mature Black women.
“It’s the aunties who hold the culture,” Zhane said. “And if it’s no longer centering older women or women that were here, if you’re not catering to the people that hold the culture together, what is this becoming?”
Who’s to blame for the perceived shift is actually the subject of legal action.
It all started in 2020 when a piece published on Medium titled “The Truth About Essence” took aim at the magazine’s leadership, including entrepreneur Richelieu Dennis, who purchased the publication from Time Inc. in 2018.
“The Essence brand promise is fraudulent,” the anonymous writers stated as they called for leadership to resign and for major companies to cease doing business with the publication. “The once exalted media brand dedicated to Black women has been hijacked by cultural and corporate greed and an unhinged abuse of power.”
At the time Essence released a statement on their site stating, “the accusations are false and we fully deny them.”
“We are not succumbing to a cancel culture. We are not going to defame anyone. We are not meeting hurt with hurt. We know there is a lot of pain and a lot of healing that needs to happen in our communities, but we don’t have to destroy each other to heal,” the statement read. “We will continue to do the work to be better every day and come together as an organization for each other and for Black women globally to build together, to change together, to rise together.”
The post triggered an internal investigation led by two law firms that found Dennis and the company’s executives “did not engage in behavior that contributed to a toxic workplace.”
“I appreciate that these independent reviews clear my name, though the most important focus for me is the future of Essence,” Dennis said in a statement at the time.
Dennis stayed on as the owner and chair of Essence, “guiding the vision for the company’s growth and supporting the executive team,” according to a statement. Caroline A. Wanga, a former Target executive who had been serving as Essence’s chief growth officer, was boosted to the role of interim CEO in 2020.
After the backlash to last year’s festival, Wanga filed a defamation lawsuit against Essence Ventures and its parent company, Sundial Media & Technology Group, in New York State Court, alleging that she was made the scapegoat for the event’s shortcomings despite being on health-related leave from her position during that period.
“Ms. Wanga was not involved with the planning or execution of the festival in any capacity, but because she remained publicly held out as the CEO, she was blamed by the public for the failure of the festival and faced significant backlash, including threats directed toward her and lies spread widely about her,” according to the complaint obtained by CNN. “Essence Ventures was silent amidst the ongoing backlash against Ms. Wanga.”
According to the legal filing, she stepped down from her role in March 2025.
CNN reached out to the company and Wanga’s attorney for comment.
Despite it all, this year’s event is moving forward.
Amanda Butler, a marketing executive at Sundial Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Essence, said the festival matters greatly to the brand as “it’s always mattered to have a space that felt like home.”
“It feels like you’re connected. You see your people, whether you are of the older generation or a younger generation,” Butler said.
That desire to appeal to a cross-generational audience is evident in this year’s event.
Fresh off her Oscar nominated buzz for “One Battle After Another,” actress and singer Teyana Taylor has been recruited to serve as chief curator. This year’s musical acts include a mix of current hot artists including Cardi B and Kehlani and more seasoned veterans like Patti LaBelle and George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic.
Zhane told CNN while she understands the loyalty to both the magazine and the festival, she believes that many who continue to attend the event are “chasing that unicorn.”
“They’re chasing that feeling that no longer exists,” Zhane said. “And that’s why they’re gonna keep getting disappointed.”
A publication trying to serve many audiences
Lisa D. Lenoir, a critical/cultural media sociologist who studies race, gender and class at Indiana University Bloomington, sees the struggle of trying to appeal to all audiences.
Right now, she said, Essence is attempting to juggle audiences for both its print and digital publications, and the festival stands as a marketing tool to “keep bringing people back to the well.”
“Marketing and promotional events is to really keep the brand fresh and new in the eyes of its subscriber,” Lenoir said. “So it’s a multifaceted approach that has worked well for publications in the past.”
Essence is unlike other publications, however, in that its cultural and historical significance to the Black community means that the expectations can be heightened.
Lenoir believes the company might gain more by doing less.
“Something to think about maybe, ‘Is this the best vehicle for this time on the larger scale, or does it need to be like satellite festivals in different places to create more community,” she said.
At least for this year, attendees like Grant are happy to give Essence Fest a chance for a do-over.
“You have a large conglomerate of Black and brown people from around the world, understanding and coming together in a spot where everything is kind of just,” she said, before pausing. “It’s really hard to describe.”
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