Abrupt Changes in SXSW Executive Leadership Mark New Era

Former President Hugh Forrest (left) and Jenny Connelly, who is taking over (images courtesy of P-MRC)

There’s been a major shake-up in leadership at South by Southwest, as some of the most familiar faces behind the festival and conference are out.

On April 25, SXSW President Hugh Forrest, who has been with the festival since 1989 and also served as head of programming since 1994, exited the company. At the same time, several other long-term employees, including Vice President of Music James Minor and Lillian Park, VP of communications, are leaving SXSW.

Replacing Forrest as leader of SXSW will be Jenny Connelly. Penske’s executive vice president of product & technology and a former senior vice president with Live Nation Studios, she has been a SXSW board member since 2021. She will serve in the new position of director in charge, while Forrest’s role as head of programming goes to Greg Rosenbaum, co-founder of SXSW EDU and the side festival’s vice president since the departure of founder and executive producer Ron Reed in 2024.

The change marks the latest stage in several years of change at SXSW, all beginning in 2020 with the cancellation of that year’s festival due to the pandemic. The following year, P-MRC, a joint venture between Penske Media and MRC Media & Info, took a 50% share in the company, which rose to 51% in 2023. In 2022, SXSW co-founder and CEO Roland Swenson stepped down as head of the company to assume the new role of executive chairman. In his place, Forrest and Chief Brand Officer Jann Baskett were made co-presidents. Then last December Baskett stepped down from that role, effective January of this year, to found her own consultancy, while Forrest was promoted to become sole president – a position he ended up holding for less than six months.

However, not all exits are created equal. Park told the Chronicle she was let go, while Minor told the Austin American-Statesman he planned to leave in October anyway, and had already selected Director of Music Festival Programming Brian Hobbs as his replacement. In a statement, Penske told the Chronicle that Connelly’s appointment was made by the board, and Forrest decided to leave after being told he would not be receiving the title of CEO and would instead be reporting to her. However, Forrest told the Chronicle that his exit was “definitely not my decision.”

Editor’s note: Chronicle co-founder and owner Nick Barbaro is a co-founder and co-owner of SXSW.