You've probably heard by now that Beyoncé is one of this year's Coachella headliners. She's the first woman to headline the festival in nearly a decade (since Portishead's set in 2008), as well as the first black woman to ever headline the music fest. But just when it seemed like a giant leap for gender and race equality in America, the world learned about Philip Anschutz.
As much as you really want to see Queen B, a news article this week revealed a substantial reason to boycott Coachella all together. According to Uproxx, Philip Anschutz, the owner of Coachella producer AEG, is a staunch conservative who has openly donated funds to groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, and the National Christian Foundation, all of which have campaigned against LBGTQ and abortion rights. He's also an oil and gas billionaire from Kansas whose right-wing ideology includes denying climate change—you get the picture.
The media has been in an uproar over the news, with some calls to boycott the sold-out festival appearing on social media (not that it's going to make a dent in AEG Live's bottom line). So, it might be time to reconsider your festival plans, or otherwise organize to make sure the three headliners — who have a proud history of using their platforms to make progressive political statements — realize they need to speak out when they take the stage in April.
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