Boardroom takes you inside the second annual cultural reset that’s carving out space for community, creativity, and connection at Cannes Lions.
Each June, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity draws some of the most powerful names in media, marketing, and advertising. But for years, it also carried a feeling of exclusion. That’s what inspired The Afties — a once-a-year party with a purpose, which returned to Cannes for its second annual edition in 2025 with even more cultural weight, clarity, and an undeniable presence.
“This is my sixth or seventh year coming to Cannes,” said TJ Adeshola, one of the hosts behind The Afties. “Each and every year that I come, there have been moments when I felt lonely. There have been moments where I felt like I haven’t found community.”
That began to shift as more creators, influencers, and athletes started showing up. But even then, Adeshola said, there still wasn’t a space that felt truly like home, especially for Black attendees and other creatives who drive culture behind the scenes. So Adeshola, sports media host Taylor Rooks, and a tight-knit crew decided to change that.
“We were walking the Croisette one night, me, Taylor [Rooks], and a few others, and it was 11 p.m. We were like, ‘Where are we going? What do we do? Where are the people who look like us?'” Adeshola said.
That question became the catalyst.
Subscribe for the biggest stories in the business of sports and entertainment, daily.
From that late-night conversation on the Croisette, The Afties was born — a space for the culture and by the culture.
“For years, I’d come to Cannes for work and rarely saw spaces where folks who look like me could catch a vibe or even hear our music. That slowly began to shift a few years ago—but one of the key turning points was when the legend D-Nice brought Club Quarantine to Lions,” Adeshola said. “That first night? Easily the most memorable experience I’ve had at Lions. Club Quarantine, Group Black, and Inkwell didn’t just show up—they intentionally held space for the culture to take the stage. They blazed a trail — the Afties is a result of that foundation.”
Adeshola and his team set out to build a space intentionally centered on culture, one that welcomed the outliers, creators, influencers, and the people behind the brand campaigns that shape today’s biggest cultural moments.
“We did it last year; it was sold out,” he said. “We had Tinashe, Shaboozey, Janelle Monáe, Maségo, Mav Carter, DeAndre Hopkins — every name was in there, and it was a vibe.”
The first year was a hit, and the second was even bigger with notable guests like Carmelo Anthony, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Jordan Chiles, Russell Westbrook, Candace Parker, Shay Mitchell, Alex Rodriguez, Ilona Maher, and many more. Held at the iconic Chrystie venue, the energy was driven by a rotating slate of DJs including Jae Murphy, DJ Millie, DJ Tay James, Chris Lyons, and Charles Beloved.
But this wasn’t just another party in a week full of open bars and branded rooftops. It was designed with intention — from who DJed to who was front and center.
“What I love the most is [that] the host is a Black woman,” Adeshola said about Rooks. “We were celebrating Black women. We go to all these events, and it’s always like dude-athlete, male-this, male-that, male-DJ. We flipped that. We have a Black woman at the helm. That’s important to me.”
This year, The Afties was powered by partners like BET, TikTok, Amazon Music, Dove Men+Care, and Don Julio. The night featured a Don Julio toast led by Rooks, surprise chicken fingers and fries served in sleek white TikTok-branded boxes, and a small-but-mighty product placement from Dove Men+Care, which stocked the venue’s bathrooms with deodorant to keep the night both fresh and functional.
Adeshola emphasized that the event’s partners weren’t just sponsors; they were active participants in the culture. Adeshola said partner conversations tend to happen organically, especially with marketers who understand the cultural significance and share the same values.
“Typically, I’m asking, ‘Who’s a marketer that looks like me or markets a product for me?’” he said. “That’s when we start thinking, ‘Could they be a partner?’ And what would that look like?”
The Afties is about creating safe spaces in historically gatekept places and building community across industries that too often silo creatives, athletes, and executives.
“I used to walk the Croisette and be so thankful to God that I was in the South of France for work,” Adeshola reflected. “But then I’d look around and I wouldn’t see anybody who looked like me. So our message with The Afties is: just because the space is gatekept doesn’t mean you can’t create motion and disrupt it.”
Adeshola made it clear that good energy and atmosphere matter, but they can’t stand alone. What makes The Afties unique is the intentional link between cultural relevance and business impact. When the right vibe is backed by clear purpose and strategy, it becomes something far more powerful.
In that room were CMOs, athletes, creators, and executives — all sweating, dancing, and connecting. That’s the power of The Afties: It’s where the business meets the vibes.
“You’re gonna have a good time,” Adeshola said. “But you’re also gonna realize that there are more similarities than dissimilarities, and you should be able to collaborate as a function of that.”
Read More:
A Night for the W: Inside the Boardroom and Coinbase All-Star Party in Indianapolis
MLB All-Stars Sound Off: Automatic Ball-Strike Challenge, Changing the Game, & More
MLBPA Leader Tony Clark Talks Salary Cap, Revenue Sharing, Winning
Emmy Nominations Prove There’s Too Much Great TV and Not Enough Room
Did MLB Finally Crack the Code to the All-Star Game?
