Marty O'Donnell, a Republican congressional candidate and the Grammy-nominated composer behind the "Halo" video game series' music, stated he was disinvited from a "Halo 25" reunion event at the SacAnime pop culture convention due to his political commentary.
O'Donnell shared an email from his event booker on Tuesday, indicating that the convention's promoter stated LGBTQ staff felt uncomfortable with his attendance following recent public statements. The promoter reportedly said the invitation was rescinded to avoid upsetting staff.
"I’m very disappointed that SacAnime has disinvited me from a Halo 25 reunion at their conference next month," O'Donnell tweeted. "If you thought we defeated Cancel Culture in 2024, guess again!"
O'Donnell, who is running as the Trump-backed Republican nominee for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District, had been invited in January to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "Halo" alongside other cast and crew members. He noted that SacAnime had announced his appearance and promoted it for weeks before rescinding the invitation.
He believes the disinvitation is linked to his candidacy and comments, rather than the specific remarks themselves. "After SacAnime made numerous announcements of my attendance over this last weekend, I was told I was being disinvited because I called Marxism an existential threat," O'Donnell told Fox News Digital. "My existential threat comment has been twisted a lot by my political opponents over the last few weeks and anyone who saw the video knows that to be true. That is why I know it’s not why I have been pulled from SacAnime. I was pulled because I am a Republican candidate for office."
O'Donnell elaborated on his "existential threat" comment, which he made during an appearance on The WDW Pro Show. He described Marxism and anti-Western philosophy as an abyss, and noted an alliance between various groups he believes are pretending to be oppressed, including LGBTQ+ individuals, Islamists, and Marxists. He suggested that while these groups might temporarily align to oppose Western ideals, they do not share fundamental common ground.
"Funny enough, SacAnime’s decision proves my point," O'Donnell stated. "Silencing the opposition is a key component of Marxism and that is one reason why Marxism is an existential threat to our country. I genuinely believed we had put an end to Cancel Culture after the 2024 election, but that was just the end to what AOC called ‘Woke 1’ earlier this week. Woke 2 is here, and it is just as eager to silence and destroy conservatives as Woke 1."
O'Donnell concluded by asserting that he cannot be silenced and will continue to speak out against what he perceives as threats to the United States, particularly from those he identifies as Marxists.
SacAnime, located in Sacramento, California, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.