July 11, 2025
Richelieu Dennis, an executive of Sundial Media Group which owns Essence, spoke about the mounting criticism about the decades-old festival.
Essence executive Richelieu Dennis sat down with columnist Will Sutton and Dr. Ashonta Wyatt to discuss the criticism surrounding the Essence Festival of Culture.
Dennis is the executive chairman of Sundial Media Group, which owns Essence Ventures. The criticism of this year’s event began immediately after its conclusion. Dennis chose to address discourse surrounding crowd control, super lounges, and the number of artists head-on, NOLA reported.
While the executive chairman said the corporation was “listening” to all of the feedback, he made sure to note that some of the public’s demands were unreasonable. Yet, he and the Essence team remained socially observant and tweaked what was possible.
“Sometimes the expectations are reasonable. And sometimes they’re unreasonable. When they’re reasonable, or even if they’re unreasonable, we take all of that into account. Our team (does) an excellent job of social listening, so we’re listening to everything that’s being said every day. Not just when we come here. Across the board we take that information and we say, ‘OK, what are the things that we can change and what are the things that we should not change?’”
“One of the biggest changes this year came as a result of the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture’s historic attendance. While the support can be seen as a success, the lack of space led to safety issues.
“Two years ago, it was very crowded. It was very unsafe. We got it. We’ve always taken pride in the fact that when Essence comes to New Orleans, New Orleans becomes safer. So you saw we took on more space,” he said.
A large portion of the interview focused on New Orleans’ participation in the event and its corporate sponsorship. While much was made of Target’s involvement in the event, Dennis said the company has not wavered in its monetary support.
However, he did state that other companies, such as Ford, have also revoked their support. As a businessman, Dennis says Target’s assistance is needed due to rising costs. The financial subsidies from the city of New Orleans are helpful, but not enough.
Eventually, the conversation shifted to discussing the impressive musical lineup. An extensive roster of celebrities was slated to perform, causing delays and less time to troubleshoot equipment malfunctions. One of the artists who took heat for these delays was rapper, singer, and Grammy winner Lauryn Hill, known for starting her shows when the spirit moves her. The 4 am start time of her show received swift condemnation from fans and foes. However, Dennis took a moment to absolve Ms. Hill. He stated emphatically that the delays were not her fault.
Although accountability and transparency are great, Dennis did not address the allegations of Black American erasure levied by multiple Black media outlets, including Ebony and The Root. As Dennis and Essence’s Chairman are both African immigrants, many feel that the inclusion of the “Jollof vs Gumbo” cook-off and multiple non-American Black content creators and performers is an indicator that the event, firmly rooted in Black American and Southern culture, is being globalized to the point of losing its identity.
The claims of many appear anecdotal, as many Black American talents and activities were included in the festival. Still, the conversation rages online. Only time will tell if Essence executives were “listening” to that particular piece of discourse as closely as they have listened to others.
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