page_title: OZY (media company)
section_title: OZY Fest
hierarchical_section_title: OZY (media company) / History / OZY Fest
caption_attribution_description: English: Rose McGowan at Ozy Fest
context_page_description: Ozy is an international media and entertainment company launched in September 2013 by former CNN and MSNBC news anchor, journalist, and businessman Carlos Watson and Goldman Sachs alumnus Samir Rao. Ozy describes its mission as to help curious people see a broader and a bolder world. Its headquarters is in Mountain View, California, and it also has an office in New York City.
  As of 2018, Ozy claimed an audience of 3 million subscribers and a monthly reach of over 40 million. Ozy has branched out since its inception as an online magazine to become a producer of podcasts, television series and events. Ozy received its first Emmy nomination for a 2019 television show that aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
  Ozy has major partnerships across its business lines with legacy media industry leaders such as A&E Networks, iHeart Media and Live Nation.
  The company sponsors an annual festival of "music, comedy, food and ideas" called OZY Fest, held in New York City's Central Park; both the 2019 and 2020 events had to be cancelled, first due to a dangerous summer heat wave in 2019, and then due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
context_section_description: In 2016 Ozy launched a live event dubbed "OZY Fest", which until 2018 was held in Rumsey Playfield at Central Park in New York City, described as a "one-of-a-kind extravaganza of music, comedy, food and ideas". The name of OZY Fest sparked a lawsuit from Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest in 2017. OZY Fest has featured performances and discussions with notable figures including Wyclef Jean, Isse Rae, Cory Booker and Will.i.am in 2016; Katie Couric, Jason Derulo, Zara Larsson, Samantha Bee and RuPaul in 2017; and Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Handler, Hasan Minhaj, Michelle Wolf, Young the Giant, Passion Pit, Grouplove, Common, Laverne Cox, Salman Rushdie, Rose McGowan and Awkwafina in 2018. Journalist and writer Malcolm Gladwell has appeared at all three OZY Fest events.
  In 2019, Ozy announced that OZY Fest 2019 would be held on Central Park's Great Lawn and would feature John Legend, Miguel, Tove Lo, Trevor Noah, Mark Cuban, Malcolm Gladwell, Jameela Jamil, Spike Lee, Deepak Chopra, Beto O'Rourke, John Kasich, Stacey Abrams, Rachael Ray and Padma Lakshmi. The event was to be co-hosted by former baseball player Alex Rodriguez, as well as Ozy's Carlos Watson. Two days in advance of the festival, Ozy announced that Saturday tickets were sold out. However, OZY Fest 2019 was canceled due to a heat wave on the weekend that it was supposed to be held.
  OZY Fest 2020 was due to feature Miguel, Karamo, Andrew Yang, Dulcé Sloan, Tig Notaro, Tan France, Baker Mayfield, Chelsea Clinton, Gloria Steinem, Trae Young and more, but was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
caption: Actress Rose McGowan speaking at OZY Fest 2018.
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