Coachella Agenda: Head of AEG Funds Anti-Progressive Groups Using Indio Festival Profits
Taking one look at the 2017 lineup of Coachella, it’d be safe to say that the billed acts of the Indio-based music gathering will certainly be one of the highlights this year. That is, until you meet the man behind its financial backing.
Enter Philip Anschutz, head of AEG, the entertainment company that oversees Goldenvoice (the organization that produces Coachella). Anschutz is also an avid GOP supporter and opponent of LGBTQIA rights and climate change. Due to recent reports published by Uproxx and Afropunk, he has funded extremist hate groups while also sending funds to various Christian-based organizations with histories of prejudice against progressive LGBTQIA efforts. Add to the list Anschutz’s Walden Media group, which funds films such as “Waiting for Superman” to support his own political views as well as his constant challenging of evolutionary science and his support of climate change denial (not to mention his association with the Koch Brothers, two of the country’s leading anti-environmental activists), and what you get is a conflicting cocktail of entertainment supported by bigotry.
What makes the link and exposé of Anschutz’s political leanings to the Coachella festival so incongruous is not only the crowd it tends to attract but also the artists it tends to attract, such as Kendrick Lamar, hip hop icon known for his community organization and his vocal addressing of racial discrimination as well as he is for his quick witted lyricism; Radiohead, a band who’ve openly criticized conservative governing and its lack of inclusiveness (look no further than “Hail to The Thief”); and Beyoncé, a passionate Democrat who has openly supported Barack Obama and, more recently, played a benefit concert for Hillary Clinton. Throw a dart at any other name on the Coachella lineup, and you’ll be guaranteed to hit an artist who promotes the very beliefs Anschutz’s financial track record opposes.
While passes for both weekends have completely sold out since the lineup announcement, time will reveal if AEG, Coachella, or Anschutz himself feels any financial fallout from these recent findings. It will also be interesting to see if any headliners or undercard acts on the bill (posted below) take a stand against these findings by dropping out of the festival or use their sets as a platform to speak out against Anschutz. With the political climate as steaming as it’s been since the 2016 election, along with Donald Trump’s inauguration slated this month, there’s a safe bet that this could be a much different Coachella than expected.
