Essence Fest catches backlash for shutting down New Orleans bookstore event

Posted on July 3, 2023 by thegrio.com

Several high-profile social media users slammed the festival for targeting the bookstore.

The Essence Festival is catching heat on social media for shutting down a New Orleans bookstore’s event promoting Black authors, nola.com reports.

The festival filed a petition on June 29 in Civil District Court and issued a Temporary Restraining Order demanding Baldwin and Co., as well as event promoter Lit Diaries LLC, cease-and-desist using its trademark to promote a June 30 event at the Black-owned bookstore, WWL-TV reports.

Last year, while I didn’t get an invite to talk about #1619Project from the Essence Festival, @BaldwinBooks hosted me that weekend for an amazing conversation at his jewel of a bookstore. To stop him from hosting Black authors this wkend is just shameful. https://t.co/yNPWmPaKRH

— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) July 1, 2023

The Essence Music Festival ran from June 29 to July 3 in New Orleans. Organizers claim Baldwin and Co. used the Essence name illegally and violated the city’s “clean zone” laws, reports today!

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