Black Book Bash, Publix Dispute Sponsorship Deal After Social Media Firestorm

Organizers of the Florida book festival say the supermarket giant pulled sponsorship at the last minute. Publix says it was never a sponsor.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Black Book Bash, a festival celebrating the works of Black authors, is asking for support ahead of the event this weekend after organizers said supermarket chain Publix withdrew at the last minute as the title sponsor. However, Publix disputes the claim.

“Publix was one of the companies that was contacted [for sponsorship]. There were multiple conversations back and forth in Zooms that led to an agreement of the title sponsorship with exclusivity,” Casey R. Kelley, who founded the Jacksonville, Fla., event with La-Tasha Estelle, said in a social media video.

Kelley went on to explain that organizers were waiting on “funds to be transferred when we received an email this past Monday that stated that they could not move forward due to the current climate and that they would be pausing all new sponsorships.

“La-Tasha and I used a lot of personal funds. We know the country we live in and we are used to the obstacles and roadblocks, direct and indirect,” Kelley said of the Black Book Bash, which will take place Oct. 3-5 at the Hyatt Regency Riverfront Jacksonville. “But the good news is, this is an event that is led by two Black women, and we will always get it done.”

Comedian Roy Wood Jr., actress Kim Fields and academic Michael Eric Dyson are just some of the names expected to attend.

News of Publix’s alleged backtrack caught fire on social media, leading some online to call for a boycott of the company’s stores and others to direct funds toward the Black Book Bash itself. Winn-Dixie, a supermarket chain based in Jacksonville, made a donation to the event, as did several supporters who saw the posts on social media.

A spokesperson for Publix, however, insists the supermarket chain had never agreed to sponsor the Black Book Bash.

“When we first saw the TikTok videos that had been up on Friday, we were a little taken aback,” Maria Brous, director of communications for the Lakeland, Fla.-based company, told ContrabandCamp.

“I can confirm that Publix had never agreed to be a sponsor of the event, nor did we agree to be a title sponsor of the event,” continued Brous, who said Publix conducted a thorough investigation and has been in touch with the Black Book Bash organizers.

Kelly shared an email with News4JAX that allegedly showed Publix rescinding its offer to sponsor the Black Book Bash.

“I regret to inform you that Publix [is] no longer able to offer sponsorships for the foreseeable future. In this volatile [climate], we have pulled all sponsorships for the foreseeable future. As a result, we are rescinding the existing offer to sponsor Black Book Bash,” the message read. News4JAX notes that the email used the @publix.com domain, the same one the news site says it uses to communicate with Publix’s corporate comms team.

Although Publix respects the positive impact the festival will have on the Jacksonville community, the event organizers were unable to provide investigators with the specific email that was sent, Brous said.

“We do a lot of work in the hunger and homelessness space,” she said. “We typically do not tend to sponsor festivals or bashes. And if we are looking to sponsor, it’s usually through a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that we look to do that through.”

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the event said, “Black Book Bash is a few days away, and our team is centrally focused on putting together an amazing event. At the present time, we will only have conversations concerning the event itself.”

The Black Book Bash is scheduled for Oct. 3-5 in Jacksonville, Fla.