Caroline Wanga, the former CEO of Essence Ventures, filed a defamation lawsuit in mid-June 2026 against Essence Ventures and its parent company, Sundial Media & Technology Group, in New York State Court. Her core claim is that the company stayed quiet while the public pinned the troubled 2025 Essence Festival of Culture on her, even though she had already resigned months before it happened.
Wanga had been on medical leave since September 2024. According to the complaint, she made her resignation effective March 31, 2025, three months before the festival opened in New Orleans on July 4, 2025. But the company did not announce her departure until August 25, 2025. By then, the festival had come and gone, and so had the backlash.
That gap is what Wanga says left her exposed. With no public clarification that she had stepped away, the audience assumed the sitting CEO was the one steering a festival that drew heavy criticism. The complaint describes the fallout that followed, including personal threats against Wanga and her family. Her filing alleges leadership asked her to hold off on announcing her exit until after the festival, and that she and her counsel agreed.
Wanga's run at Essence made her one of the most visible Black executives in media. She came up through a roughly 15-year career at Target, starting as an intern and rising to chief diversity, inclusion, and culture officer. She joined Essence in June 2020 as chief growth officer, was elevated to interim CEO within weeks, and took the title full-time soon after, leading the company through several years that the brand itself has described as a stretch of growth and renewed cultural influence.
The 2025 festival, the brand's marquee summer event, became a flashpoint after attendees aired complaints across social media. Wanga's suit argues she should never have been part of that conversation at all.
Essence Ventures and Sundial have not issued a detailed public response to the allegations.
