January 06, 2017 02:53 PM UTC

Phil Anschutz Gets Shredded Over Hate Group Donations

• 10 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Local liberal groups claim victory based on Phil Anschutz’s indirect claim to have stopped supporting anti-LGBT organizations:

“Last summer, an article in the Washington Post exposed nearly $200,000 in contributions from the Anschutz Foundation to anti-LGBT hate groups, including the Alliance Defending Freedom and the so-called Family Research Council,” said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Ian Silverii. “We called on Phil Anschutz to immediately stop funding these groups, for whom anti-LGBT discrimination is plainly central to their mission — and it’s our understanding that he has done so.”

“It is heartening to see Phil Anschutz give his unequivocal support of everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, and we appreciate that the Anschutz Foundation has stopped funding anti-LGBTQ hate groups after the Washington Post revealed the funding in their July article,” said One Colorado Executive Director, Daniel Ramos. “We are grateful that Phil Anschutz looked at the facts and did the right thing after our organization and others asked him to cease funding these groups.”

“We are relieved that Anschutz has ceased funding to grantees when made aware of their anti-LGBT activities, and we’ll continue to be vigilant to ensure he keeps this promise,” said Silverii. “We’re proud that our organization played a role in helping convince Phil Anschutz to stop funding hate.”

—–

Last July, we took note of a report in the Washington Post detailing contributions to anti-LGBT groups by a number of wealthy citizens including Colorado billionaire Phil Anschutz, the owner of the Colorado Springs Gazette and one of the nation’s leading live entertainment executives. The report detailed almost $200,000 in donations from Anschutz’s foundation to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, and other groups for whom opposing LGBT rights is a core mission. Some of that money appears to have made its way to the internet “ministry” of former state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt, whose over-the-top demagoguery against LGBT people is an unfortunate matter of record.

As we speculated at the time:

The disclosure of Anschutz’s support for extremist anti-gay groups, not to mention “Dr. Chaps,” could be an enormous problem for his wide-ranging business interests. What will concertgoers and performers think of Anschutz’s support for hate groups as they consider attending/performing at Anschutz Entertainment Group events? Taylor Swift? Lady Gaga? It’s our understanding that funding anti-LGBT causes is not a very popular thing to do in Hollywood.

Even billionaires should be held accountable for funding hate. Even Phil Anschutz.

Well folks, in the last few days, fans of the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California–one of the nation’s biggest music festivals owned and owned by Anschutz Entertainment–have learned in widespread media reports what Phil Anschutz spends his money on.

And as Rolling Stone Kory Grow reports, Team Anschutz is not happy about this:

Philip Anschutz, the CEO of concert and live event promoter AEG, is shooting down reports that he has worked against the LGBTQ community as “fake news” and “garbage.” In a statement to Rolling Stone, Anschutz said that he was proud that the Anschutz Entertainment Group – which runs Coachella and owns promoter Bowery Presents – was proud of employing people from diverse backgrounds…

“Both the Anschutz Foundation and I contribute to numerous organizations that pursue a wide range of causes,” he wrote. “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.”

Asked about giving to those specific groups, a rep for Anschutz said, “We have immediately ceased all contributions to such groups.” [Pols emphasis]

Got that? Reports that Anschutz gave money to anti-LGBT groups are “fake news,” except they also say Anschutz has “ceased all contributions” to those groups.

Which means they obviously…weren’t fake.

Mic’s Tom Barnes sums up Anschutz’s problem:

Anschutz has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-gay organizations, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, the National Christian Foundation and the Family Research Council, according to the bipartisan advocacy group Freedom For All Americans. These groups, according to the Washington Post, are “aggressively working to chip away at the equal rights of LGBTQ Americans.”

Beyond anti-LGBTQ causes, Greenpeace has also specifically named Anschutz as a major financer of climate denial groups, alongside fossil fuel billionaires the Koch Brothers. He’s one of the attendees of the Koch Brothers biannual strategy meetings, where Greenpeace notes “millions of dollars are raised to influence politics through groups like the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, the Franklin Center, and the other members of the State Policy Network.” Anschutz also owns the Washington Examiner and the Weekly Standard, which frequently share anti-climate change talking points.

They’re troubling revelations, one that casts Coachella’s nearly $400 price tag in a new light. That money is going to line the pockets of a man who’s interest is to actively oppose and undo so many progressive causes.

The culture-conscious mavens at PerezHilton.com may have said it best:

Here’s the kicker: through Coachella and other music promotions, the entertainment tycoon is basically milking the liberal youth culture’s spending money and funneling it to the corporate, Conservative causes they are fighting against…

In short, today’s hippies need to stay woke — and maybe think twice about dropping a few grand for the corporate music festival. [Pols emphasis]

In the months after the original report in the Washington Post about Anschutz’s controversial political giving, there wasn’t much followup to this story. We would attribute that mostly to the crazy election season squelching out headlines not directly pertinent to the presidential race. It appears that Anschutz’s donations were picked up anew after the artist lineup for the Coachella Music Festival was announced this week, which is when the public would naturally be more interested in the dealings of the festival’s owner.

And as it turns out, the kids don’t like Phil Anschutz’s politics one bit! It’s possible that the election of Donald Trump is forcing a new look at the upper crust of America’s entertainment industry, which seems to have little in common with the values of the artists who entertain us and the audiences being entertained. Perhaps it’s a short-term reaction–but maybe the days of getting rich off our popular culture, and then spending the profits waging political war against that culture, are numbered.

Either way, it’s a disconnect that’s getting attention–and making one of Colorado’s richest men very, very nervous.