Yesterday, owner of Coachella’s parent company Phillip Anschutz broke news when media outlets reported that he used company funds to support anti-LGBT political groups and that he is allegedly a climate change denier.
In response, Anschutz released a statement on Thursday (Jan. 5) calling the assertions “fake news,” pointing to the diversity of his own company as evidence.
Read his full statement here:
“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.”
