After Announcing She Was Stepping Down As CEO Of Essence Ventures Amid Turmoil Around Essence Fest, Caroline Wanga Is Claiming Defamation
Former Essence Ventures CEO Caroline Wanga is taking her fallout with the company to court, claiming the organization allowed a public narrative to grow around her role in last year’s ESSENCE Festival of Culture despite her being on medical leave.
Wanga filed a lawsuit Thursday, June 11, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against Essence Ventures and Sundial Media, alleging defamation connected to the backlash surrounding the 2025 Essence Festival in New Orleans.
The lawsuit claims Wanga had been on health-related leave since September 2024 and resigned as CEO in March 2025, months before operational planning for the 2025 festival was underway. Still, she argues, her name remained attached to the company publicly as criticism of the festival grew online.
“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,” the lawsuit states.
Wanga Says Essence Failed To Correct The Record
In an Instagram post announcing the lawsuit, Wanga said “missing knowledge” had led to false assumptions about her departure from the company.
“Out of an abundance of courtesy, I share this regarding my personal integrity, professional ethos & purpose journey,” she wrote.
According to the complaint, Wanga repeatedly asked company leadership beginning in July 2025 to publicly clarify that she was not involved in the festival’s planning, programming, sponsorships or operations. Her legal team also says she asked leadership to make clear that her heritage and previous employment had no connection to the festival’s direction.
“Despite these requests, when Essence Ventures announced her departure in August 2025, it intentionally omitted these key facts,” the lawsuit alleges.
Wanga is seeking damages, attorney fees and a jury trial. She claims the controversy caused major harm to her work outside of Essence, including her company Wanga Woman. The lawsuit alleges revenue dropped to zero, employees were laid off, book sales declined and business opportunities disappeared after the public backlash.
Related:2025 Essence Festival of Culture Faced Celebrations, Criticism, and a Cultural Reckoning
Essence Fest Criticism Turned Personal Online
The 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture faced criticism over access, influencer involvement, production concerns, sponsorships and planning. Confusion around Lauryn Hill’s late set also fueled online frustration before ESSENCE publicly said earlier delays pushed the performance back.
But the lawsuit argues some of the criticism moved beyond festival operations and became personal.
Wanga alleges she was targeted over her Kenyan heritage, with some critics accusing her of “erasing Black American heritage.” The filing includes examples of online comments directed at her, including “go back to Africa,” “the Africans took over,” and “that African girl is running it and ruining it.”
The lawsuit also says some criticism was tied to misconceptions about Wanga’s previous role at Target and the retailer’s involvement with the festival during an ongoing boycott.
Wanga’s attorney, Larry Schaefer, said the lawsuit is meant to hold Essence Ventures and Sundial leadership accountable for what he described as a false public narrative.
“The lawsuit is being brought to hold Essence Ventures and Sundial leadership, including Richelieu Dennis and Kirk McDonald, to account for allowing a false public narrative to destroy Ms. Wanga’s reputation,” Schaefer said.
He added, “Essence Ventures and Sundial are supposed to be about elevating Black business and leadership, but this sad story demonstrates that when a scapegoat was useful, Black empowerment went out the window.”
ESSENCE Calls The Lawsuit “Without Merit”
ESSENCE Festival of Culture responded Friday, June 12, saying the organizations named in the lawsuit are aware of the complaint and calling the allegations “patently false.”
“The core allegation in the complaint is that ESSENCE failed to correct that Ms. Wanga was not directly involved in ESSENCE Festival of Culture 2025®,” the statement said. “However, notwithstanding any obligation to make such a statement, ESSENCE immediately made clear that she was not involved.”
The statement continued by defending the festival’s legacy, saying ESSENCE has spent more than 30 years building and protecting the annual cultural event.
“For more than 30 years, we have shown up and done the work to build, protect, and elevate the ESSENCE Festival of Culture® because it belongs to something larger than any one person or moment,” the statement said. “It belongs to the community of Black women and families who have made it a cherished tradition.”
ESSENCE also questioned the timing of the lawsuit, which was filed just weeks before this year’s festival.
“Also, the timing of this complaint a few weeks before our festival is not lost on us,” the statement said. “We have supported Ms. Wanga on her journey and the facts will reflect that. In short, the complaint is without merit and ESSENCE will defend itself against these baseless claims.”
