Phillip Anschutz, the CEO of Coachella parent company AEG, released a statement following reports that he contributes to anti-LGBTQ groups like Alliance Defending Freedom, National Christian Foundation and Family Research Council.
The report stemmed from a graph published in a Jonathan Capehart article in the Washington Post in July, created by the LGBTQ group Freedom for All Americans.
Anschutz released statements to Billboard and Rolling Stone:
“Recent claims published in the media that I am anti-LGBTQ are nothing more than fake news — it is all garbage. I unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation. We are fortunate to employ a wealth of diverse individuals throughout our family of companies, all of whom are important to us — the only criteria on which they are judged is the quality of their job performance; we do not tolerate discrimination in any form.
“Both The Anschutz Foundation and I contribute to numerous organizations that pursue a wide range of causes. Neither I nor the Foundation fund any organization with the purpose or expectation that it would finance anti-LGBTQ initiatives, and when it has come to my attention or the attention of The Anschutz Foundation that certain organizations either the Foundation or I have funded have been supporting such causes, we have immediately ceased all contributions to such groups.”
It's not immediately if Anschutz ever funded the groups named in the article or if he did, and then stopped.
Radiohead, Beyoncé, and Kendrick Lamar are among the headliners at this year's Coachella music festival in Indio, California, which takes place over two weekends in April.
