Republican congressional candidate and Grammy-nominated composer Marty O'Donnell stated that he was disinvited from a reunion of the creators of the video game "Halo" at the SacAnime convention due to his political stances and comments made on the campaign trail. O'Donnell, who is the Trump-backed Republican nominee for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District, shared details of the incident with Fox News Digital.
According to O'Donnell, he received an email from his booker on Tuesday stating that the promoter for SacAnime had informed them that LGBTQ+ staff at the convention did not feel comfortable with his attendance. The email indicated that the invitation was rescinded to avoid further staff upset, citing his "recently reported statements of the political campaign."
O'Donnell, who composed music for "Halo 2," "Halo 3," and "Halo: Reach," had been invited in January to attend a "Halo 25" reunion at the convention, scheduled for Labor Day weekend in Sacramento, California. He recalled being excited to join fellow voice actors and creators to celebrate the game's 25th anniversary. He also mentioned recording a promotional video for his appearance two weeks prior.
In a tweet, O'Donnell expressed disappointment, stating, "If you thought we defeated Cancel Culture in 2024, guess again!" He added that SacAnime had removed him from their website and deleted promotional posts about his appearance.
O'Donnell suggested that his political identity as a Republican candidate was the reason for his disinvitation. He cited a comment he made about Marxism being an "existential threat" as a point of contention. "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," O'Donnell said. "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."
He further commented, "Silencing the opposition is a key component of Marxism and that is one reason why Marxism is an existential threat to our country." O'Donnell characterized the situation as "Woke 2," suggesting it aims to silence and discredit conservatives.
The comments that appeared to have sparked the controversy were made by O'Donnell during an appearance on The WDW Pro Show, where he discussed the rise of Marxism and identity politics. He described what he called a "weird alliance of all these groups who like to pretend they’re oppressed. The LGBTQ+ people, the Islamists, the Marxists, they’re all together now, acting like they’re all together on the same side. They’re not on the same side."
Fox News Digital reached out to SacAnime for comment but had not received an immediate response at the time of reporting.