Jenny Connelly, EVP of Product & Technology at Penske Media Corporation, who is taking over as director in charge of SXSW. She replaces President and Head of Programming Hugh Forrest, who was ousted on Friday. (Image Courtesy of Penske Media)

After the surprise ousting of South by Southwest President and Head of Programming Hugh Forrest, the owners have announced that Jenny Connelly, a SXSW board member and Penske Media’s executive vice president of product and technology, will be taking over as head of the festival.

Connelly, a former Live Nation Studios SVP, currently oversees Penske’s engineering, data, IT, product, project & SEO teams. According to a statement from Penske Media Corporation, which owns a majority of SXSW, the decision to appoint her to the position was made by the board.

Connelly announced the appointment publicly via LinkedIn that she will be leading the festival in the new role of director in charge. She wrote that she is traveling here from Los Angeles on a weekly basis to meet with the team.

Penske Media became a shareholder in SXSW in 2021 when it partnered with MRC Media & Info to form P-MRC and take a 50% ownership stake. This rose to 51% in 2023, giving Penske a majority holding and therefore control over staffing decisions at this level.

While she assumes the new position of director in chief, Connelly will not be replacing Forrest as head of programming. That position will now be filled by Greg Rosenbaum, who joined the company in 2010 to launch the inaugural SXSW EDU. He became vice-president of the education festival last July on the retirement of founder Ron Reed. In addition, SXSW Chief Partnerships Officer Peter Lewis becomes Chief Partnerships and Strategy Officer, while Director of Music Festival Programming Brian Hobbs will succeed Vice-President of Music James Minor.

Forrest, who joined SXSW in 1989 as its first employee, was one of several senior and veteran employees who were exited from the company last Friday, April 25. In a statement, a Penske spokesperson said that his departure came after a board decision to place Connelly in charge and that Forrest decided to leave the company he had spent 37 years building. Per Penske, “When Hugh was told he wasn’t going to get the CEO title at SXSW, and would be reporting to Jenny, Hugh made the decision to leave SXSW.” However, Forrest has already stated that his departure was “definitely not my decision.”

Forrest and Moran are not alone in handing in their keys. The Chronicle has been informed that around 10 employees have left the company, including VP of communications Lillian Park. She confirmed via LinkedIn that she was let go on Friday after 36 years with the company.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect a statement from Penske Media Corporation.