JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Conflicting accounts are surfacing ahead of a Jacksonville event celebrating Black authors, as organizers of the Black Book Bash claim Publix pulled its sponsorship at the last minute — a claim the grocery chain firmly denies.
The controversy began after organizers released a video on social media, alleging Publix had backed out as a title sponsor just days before the event, forcing them to dip into personal funds to keep things going.
However, Publix told News4JAX that it never agreed to sponsor the event in the first place.
“We’re disheartened,” a communications director for Publix said during a phone interview. “After conducting a thorough investigation, we concluded that Publix never agreed to sponsor or serve as the title sponsor of this event.”
The disagreement has sparked online backlash, with some social media users calling for a boycott of the Lakeland-based grocer. Publix responded to the criticism by encouraging the public to seek out accurate information.
Casey Kelley, an organizer for the Black Book Bash, shared a different version of events.
“Over the past few months, one of our sponsorship coordinators was in communication with someone from a Publix.com email address,” Kelley said.
She also shared an email — which News4JAX reviewed — appearing to show a sponsorship offer being rescinded.
Part of that message read:
“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…”
Notably, the email address the message was sent from ends with “@publix.com” — the same domain News4JAX has used to communicate with Publix’s corporate communications team.
Publix, however, maintains the message was not from them.
“We can confirm definitively that this communication was never sent by Publix,” a company spokesperson said in a follow-up statement to News4JAX.
Despite the sponsorship confusion, organizers say their focus is on ensuring the Black Book Bash is a success. The event, which celebrates literacy and amplifies the voices of Black authors across genres, is scheduled to take place this weekend in Jacksonville.
Click here for more information about the event.