Caroline Wanga Fires Back — Ex-ESSENCE CEO Files Defamation Complaint, Says She Scapegoat For Festival ‘Failure’
Caroline Wanga has filed a defamation complaint against ESSENCE Ventures connected to criticism of 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture. The post Caroline Wanga Fires Back — Ex-ESSENCE CEO Files Defamation Complaint, Says She Scapegoat For Festival ‘Failure’ appeared first on MadameNoire.
Black News 
Former ESSENCE Ventures CEO Caroline Wanga is alleging she was unfairly blamed and publicly defamed following the widely criticized 2025 edition of Essence Festival, according to her complaint filed on June 11 with the New York State Supreme Court.
What’s inside Former ESSENCE Ventures CEO Caroline Wanga’s complaint?
In her filing against ESSENCE Ventures and its parent company, Sundial Media & Technology Group, Wanga explained that she was hired as CEO of ESSENCE Ventures in June 2020. She later took a health-related leave of absence beginning in September 2024 and remained on leave until she officially stepped down from her role in March 2025. The complaint states that she and the company had agreed to jointly announce her departure after the 2025 Essence Festival of Culture, which took place on July 4, 2025. Wanga had already separated from the company before the announcement, but claims she suffered from defamation due to the “unsuccessful” nature of the event, before her official resignation could be announced.
Last year, ESSENCE Festival faced criticism over production challenges, its partnership with Target, and a shift toward more Pan-African programming, resulting in what some festival goers complained was an “erosion of the festival’s Black American focus,” according to Ebony.
The post Caroline Wanga Fires Back — Ex-ESSENCE CEO Files Defamation Complaint, Says She Scapegoat For Festival ‘Failure’ appeared first on MadameNoire.
