Tuesday, July 08, 2025

Stephanie Mills Pens Open Letter to Essence Fest Organizers


R&B icon Stephanie Mills joins the chorus of complaints about this year's Essence Fest [click here if you missed that],  penning a strongly worded open letter to the organizers concerning production issues... 

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't read what's on Instagram but the Queens tour with Patti, Stephanie, Chaka and Gladys was off the chain. They sounded as good if not better than 50ty yes ago. I'm not a concert goer but didn't want to miss these women. Singers today dont have the singing chops like these women. LOLO

Anonymous said...

Essence accepted funds from Target. Jinxed!

Anonymous said...

Essence Fest has lost its soul. You got Africans and Caribbean folks running all around the place talking about jollof and jerk chicken and this and that…. A bunch of scammers and users. Foundational Black Americans are falling back. We’re done with y’all mess.

Anonymous said...

@12:21 Exactly. It's the Target curse. They say this was the worst year ever for the festival. No wonder.

Anonymous said...

Essence (the magazine and the festival)lost its heart. It's unconceivable that they got in bed with Target when Black people are boycotting Target nationwide. It's up to us to let them know we will not accept this kind of mistreatment. As for Patti et al, our generation doesn't demand A level talent. We have musicians who can't read music, singers who can't hit a note. We get second tier talent because that's what we put up with.

Anonymous said...

Essence should just have the festival in Kenya or Nigeria.

It has been reported that Essence decision makers favor black immigrant vendors over FBA/AA. They also shut out local businesses.

The LGBTQIA Kenyan CEO of Essence/ Former Target DEI officer gave this big, wonderful speech about Black Empowerment and threw in some Ebonics to prove that "she was down".



Anonymous said...

Essence pulled the bait and switch Nigerian scam on FBA.

Anonymous said...

The Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, alongside NCAC and Essence Ventures, co-hosted a luncheon, setting the stage for global collaboration of Black culture.

Essence is no longer a black women centered organization.

It wants the $1.4 Trillion of AA/FBAs to finance their global black agenda.

Anonymous said...

Janky Promoters.

Anonymous said...

Target Curse = the lady who was head of DEI at Target and is now the CEO of Essence. She is the common denomenator. Target is in the toilet and now Essence is headed that direction

Anonymous said...

Word is Kai Cenat has a deal with Target. Someone is always more than willing to sellout.

Anonymous said...

I've never attended the Essence Festival. After reading Ms. Stephanie's letter and the comments from attendees, I'm good with not going ever. #NotOnMyBucketList

Anonymous said...

IT USE TO BE THE THE SHIZ BACK IN THE DAY. NOW IT'S NOT ANYMORE. IT HAS CLEARLY LOST ITS WAY. PLUS, IN THIS ECONOMY, NO ONE CAN REALLY AFFORD TO GO ANYMORE. IT'S A LUXURY EXPENSE FOR MANY PPL NOW.

Anonymous said...

Time Inc. was looking to sell off assets, including Essence, the acquisition by Richelieu Dennis seems to have been a direct approach rather than a competitive bid situation.

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