The director of an event center in metro Memphis claims he was fired because local officials did not want the “Black acts” he was booking to perform there, and he’s now suing in federal court to get his job back and monetary compensation. In his lawsuit, J. Todd Mastry, who was the executiv e director of the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi, just south of Memphis, for 16 years, said friction over Black performers started in late 2014 when rapper Lil Wayne was booked to play the Landers Center, an 8,400-seat arena that is home to the Memphis Hustle, a minor league basketball team. Mark Gardner, a supervisor on the five-member DeSoto County Board of Supervisors, approached Mastry and several DeSoto County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) board members to express his concerns about Lil Wayne, saying he’d had complaints from community members. Todd Mastry (top left) filed a lawsuit alleging DeSoto County, Mississippi officials fired him in retaliation for complaining about their efforts to stop him from booking Black performers at the Landers Center, where previous acts have included Monster Truck Jams (top right) and Funkfest (bottom). (Photos: Visit DeSoto County Facebook Page; Queen Lovely and J. Darrell Allgood in Landers Center Google Reviews) The board of supervisors appoints all seven members of the board of the CVB, which owns and runs the Landers Center. The current members of both boards are all white. Gardner admitted that none of the people complaining listened to Lil Wayne’s music or had previously attended one of his concerts, but he recounted “they had heard things and did not think he should play in DeSoto,” the complaint says. Gardner later “complained that he did not want ‘those people’ playing in the community’” and that “these acts brought ‘those people’ down from Memphis,” the lawsuit says. “It was clear to those who heard Supervisor Gardner that he was referring to Black artists who performed and Black Memphians who attended the concerts.” Mastry says he refused to cancel Lil Wayne’s contract or to limit future performances by Black artists, and that he and some CVB board members and staff explained to Gardner that it would pose a First Amendment violation and civil rights violations to discriminate against certain artists based on race. In 2015, Gardner met with the president of the CVB, Charles Tackett, and again expressed his concerns about the performances of Black artists at the Landers Center, and said that Mastry was “not the right man for the job,” the lawsuit claims. It was clear to Tackett, the complaint says, that Gardner’s concerns about Mastry stemmed from his booking “urban acts” and what Gardner called “Black acts.” Gardner and another board supervisor, Lee Caldwell, then began a years-long campaign to get Mastry fired, the lawsuit contends, by appointing like-minded people to the CVB who also wanted to end “rap acts,” “Black acts,” and “Memphis acts,” and by putting pressure on other CVB board members to find fault with Mastry’s management of the center. They met resistance due to Mastry’s excellent leadership of the Landers Center and his success in bringing more tourism revenue to DeSoto County, he says. Running the Landers Center was just one part of Mastry’s job as executive director of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau of Desoto County, whose population of 193,000 is 58 percent white and 32 percent Black. During his tenure, Mastry says he recruited new acts to the Landers Center, including the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice, Marvel Universe Live, and Monster Truck Jam from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, and brought in the Mid-South Fair, a 10-day event featuring rides and games. He also contracted with the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team to bring their minor league affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, to the Landers Center while growing its concert business. The Landers Center was ranked as a top-200 arena by Pollstar from 2012 to 2023, and ranked 49th in ticket sales in 2022, the lawsuit says. From 2008, when Mastry was hired, to 2022, the center went from operating at a deficit to being profitable, as revenues rose from $2.6 million to $11.5 million, the lawsuit says. Meanwhile, the CVB’s bank balance grew to $41 million. “Mastry’s impact on the Landers Center cannot be understated,” noted the Memphis Commercial Appeal in January when he was fired. Under his direction, the facility has begun an $85 million expansion that will quadruple its size to 76,000 square feet, enabling it to accommodate large events. A separately funded 240-room on-site Hilton hotel will complement the facility. Mastry also led the expansion of the BankPlus Amphitheater in Southaven, an 11,000-capacity concert venue that struggled during the pandemic. In 2023, the renovated venue, which underwent nearly $11 million in improvements, launched its concert season with a dozen successful shows, from the Dave Matthews Band to Jelly Roll. In 2015, when Mastry says Gardner was conspiring to get him fired, the complaint says he appointed Mandi Abernathy to the CVB Board and told her he wanted the board to fire Mastry and stop the “Black acts,” and asked her to report back to him what she learned about the CVB. Gardner “grew frustrated,” the lawsuit says when Abernathy told him that she had grown to respect Mastry, explaining that “he developed relationships and deals that more than justified his salary” and that she’d noticed his staff respected him and enjoyed working for him. Gardner had Abernathy replaced on the CVB board after only one term, while instructing prospective board members appointed over the next several years that their job was to terminate Mastry and to end acts featuring Black artists, the lawsuit says. Things came to a head in August of 2024, at a Board of Supervisors meeting, the complaint says, when Gardner and Caldwell “berated Mr. Mastry about the ‘content’ of the shows at the Landers Center” and said “they did not want ‘those shows and those people.’” A newly appointed CVB member, Michael Lee, allegedly slammed his hand on the table multiple times while yelling, ‘We don’t need those people coming down here coming to those shows.’” One supervisor then said that CVB board members needed to take over booking and not allow “those shows” to take place, while another said the board would be taking over and “there will be changes,” the lawsuit says. In response, Mastry asked the board members for the names of specific shows and acts that they found objectionable, but got no answer, he says. He then sent a letter to the CVB’s human resources director, Matt Hatch, stating that the complaints of Gardner, Caldwell, and Lee were racially discriminatory and that he feared retaliation for refusing to discriminate against Black acts and concert-goers. In September 2024, the CVB board attempted to terminate Mastry’s employment but did not have the votes, he says. In October, the board of supervisors appointed two new members to the CVB board, including Bill Sexton, the owner of the realty firm where Gardner works, the complaint says. On Jan. 6, 2025, the CVB Board voted to fire Mastry. The CVB Board chair, Amy Lovorn, told the Desoto County News it would not give the reason for the termination, saying it was a personnel matter. Lovorn said the board would conduct a “nationwide search” for a replacement.   Rodeo shows feature regularly at the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi. (Photo: Landers Center Facebook Profile) Residents reacted online to Mastry’s firing and his lawsuit with a range of critical and sympathetic comments, with many Black commenters calling for a boycott of the Landers Center. Upcoming events there include concerts by country artists Sturgill Simpson and Brandon Lake, a Monster Truck Jam, an R B Springfest featuring the Isley Brothers and Keith Sweat, and the Memphis Tri-State Blues Festival, featuring mostly Black artists. “Whewww! Let me spend my money where I’m welcome and artists that look like me are, too!!” wrote Kimberly Marley Spencer on Facebook. “Let them have unlimited Tractor Pulls and country concerts,” added G Elle Gee. “Don’t forget the rodeos. They love those,” wrote Will Burrell. “Some love rodeos, some love stealing, robbing, killing, carjacking and disruptive behavior,” responded Stephen Alexander. “Bring in more Country and Rock Artists and you won’t have any kind of problem with shooting and fighting,” wrote Jesse Parker. “Simple as that!” Mastry’s lawsuit against the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors and the DeSoto County Convention and the Visitors Bureau accuses them of retaliation for his complaints about their attempts to discriminate based on race, in violation of federal civil rights law. He seeks a jury trial to determine monetary damages for his loss of wages and employment benefits, as well as compensation for other injuries, including emotional distress, humiliation, and damage to his professional and personal reputation. Mastry also wants a court order to get his job back. In its answer filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Mississippi on April 4, the DeSoto County Convention and Visitors Bureau denied most of his allegations, including that their members had a racist agenda related to booking acts, or that it or that they had retaliated against him. The bureau admitted that certain members of the CVB board “expressed concern about whether restricting performances based on content could violate the First Amendment.” The answer said that its decisions related to Mastry’s employment were “legitimate business judgments” made in good faith for “legitimate, non-retaliatory reasons,” and that “there is no causal link between his alleged protected activity and any alleged adverse employment action.” The bureau also claims governmental immunity from liability under Mississippi law. In February, Adam Emerson, the attorney representing the Board of Supervisors, released a statement denying Mastry’s allegations. “The Desoto County Board of Supervisors vehemently denies allegations of racism and racial disparity alleged in a lawsuit filed by former Convention and Visitors Bureau Employee, Todd Mastry. No member of the Board of Supervisors has ever stated that any act at the Landers Center should be selected or denied based upon race. Furthermore, the Board of Supervisors has no authority to hire nor fire any employee of the DeSoto County CVB. Likewise, the Board of Supervisors neither selects acts nor regulates the content of any act performing at the Landers Center. That is the sole responsibility of the DeSoto County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.” The legal answer from the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors is due to be filed by April 11. ‘Black Acts’ Not Wanted: Event Center Director Claims Mississippi County Officials Fired Him Because They Didn’t Like the Rap and ‘Urban Acts’ He Booked ...read more read less