*Timing, as they say, is everything. Essence Fest just dropped its 2026 headliners—a massive reunion between Brandy and Monica that had fans ready to book flights to New Orleans. And almost immediately after, an old video resurfaced that has some of those same fans asking a much messier question: should we even be going?
The video, originally posted in July 2023 by activist and former Louisiana political candidate Gary Chambers Jr., is making the rounds again on X (formerly Twitter). In it, Chambers holds up a Temporary Restraining Order and calmly explains how Essence Festival Productions LLC used the courts to shut down a literary event planned by two Black women entrepreneurs during Essence weekend.
It’s not new. But in the context of 2026—after years of simmering frustration over the festival’s direction, unpaid vendor reports, and ongoing debates about ownership—it’s landing like a bomb…