VENU's Terri Liebler, President of Growth and Strategy, and Joanna Brown, Vice President and Executive Creative Director, Named Executive Honorees on Billboard's 2026 Women in Music List

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 20, 2026--

Venu Holding Corporation ("VENU" or the "Company") (NYSE American: VENU), owner, operator, and developer of premium live entertainment destinations, today announced that VENU™ executives Terri Liebler, President of Growth and Strategy, and Joanna Brown, Vice President and Executive Creative Director, have been named Executive Honorees on Billboard's 2026 Women in Music list. The ceremony recognizing the honorees will be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, hosted by Keke Palmer.

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Billboard's Women in Music is one of the most prestigious recognitions in the music industry, celebrating the executives and artists who are driving the roaring music business forward. Being named an Executive Honoree places Liebler and Brown among an elite group of women who are not only shaping their companies but defining the direction of the industry itself.

Over the past year, Terri Liebler has transformed the VENU brand into a leading platform, positioning the company to attract top partners, artists, and market opportunities. She has generated nearly $30 million in investments and sponsorship revenue to date and leads a team focused on strategic partnerships and innovative revenue streams. Liebler has secured partnerships with Aramark Sports + Entertainment, PepsiCo, Tixr, and Boston Common Golf, a TGL team led by Rory McIlroy. She also played a key role in bringing Dierks Bentley and Niall Horan on as VENU shareholders. Her contributions have been transformational.

Joanna Brown has shaped VENU's brand identity during a pivotal period, guiding the company from pre-IPO through its NYSE American debut and beyond. As Vice President and Executive Creative Director, she established VENU’s fan-founded, fan-owned, and artist-inspired brand and oversees creative strategy across VENU’s portfolio. Brown leads integrated marketing campaigns and directs a multidisciplinary creative team in design, development, animation, video, and advanced AI initiatives. Her work defines the premium live experience at the intersection of entertainment, hospitality, and fandom.

"I have spent a long time in this industry, and this is one of those acknowledgements and moments that make it all worthwhile," said Terri Liebler, President of Growth and Strategy, VENU. "To stand alongside the trailblazers who made space for the rest of us is something I will always be grateful for. Thank you to Billboard and to the entire VENU team."

"Building this brand alongside such a talented team has been one of the greatest achievements of my career," said Joanna Brown, Vice President and Executive Creative Director, VENU. "To have that work recognized by Billboard is something I will never forget. Congratulations to all the honorees."

"Terri and Joanna have been instrumental in building what VENU is today," said J.W. Roth, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of VENU. "To see them recognized by Billboard alongside the most influential women in the music industry is a proud moment for our entire company. Congratulations!"

Billboard's Women in Music 2026 will be held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, hosted by Emmy-winning entertainer Keke Palmer. The event recognizes artists and executives whose contributions are transforming the music industry.

About Venu Holding Corporation

Venu Holding Corporation ("VENU") (NYSE American: VENU) is a premier owner, developer, and operator of luxury, experience-driven entertainment destinations. Founded by Colorado Springs entrepreneur J.W. Roth, VENU™ has a portfolio of premium brands that includes Ford Amphitheater, Sunset Amphitheaters, Phil Long Music Hall, The Hall at Bourbon Brothers, Bourbon Brothers Smokehouse and Tavern, Aikman Owners Clubs, and Roth’s Sea & Steak. With venues operating and in development across Colorado, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas and a nationwide expansion underway, VENU™ is setting a new standard for live entertainment.

VENU has been recognized nationally by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Billboard, VenuesNow, and Variety for its innovative and disruptive approach to live entertainment. Through strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as AEG Presents, NFL Hall of Famer and Founder of EIGHT Elite Light Beer, Troy Aikman, Aramark Sports + Entertainment, Tixr, Niall Horan, and Dierks Bentley. VENU continues to shape the future of the entertainment landscape. For more information, visit VENU’s website, Instagram, LinkedIn, or X.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While Venu believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the company’s filings with the SEC, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. Venu expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

VENU's Terri Liebler, President of Growth and Strategy, and Joanna Brown, Vice President and Executive Creative Director, Named Executive Honorees on Billboard's 2026 Women in Music List

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man facing the death penalty by nitrogen gas was spared Thursday night as the U.S. Supreme Court refused to set aside a lower-court ruling that found the method is unconstitutionally cruel, issuing a brief order that came well after the hour originally planned to initiate Jeffery Lee’s execution.

The justices decided not to lift an injunction blocking the state from carrying out the nation’s ninth execution by nitrogen gas. A spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Corrections said the execution was off for the evening and the state would not try another method.

The high court voted 6-3 and did not explain its reasoning. Three of the conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch — said they would grant Alabama’s request to lift the injunction and let the execution go forward.

“While I am disappointed the Supreme Court did not allow the state to proceed with Lee’s chosen method of execution, I remain committed to ensuring that justice is ultimately served for his victims,” Gov. Kay Ivey said.

In a statement the legal team for Lee, 49, hailed the decision and noted that his jury had voted for a sentence of life, which a judge overruled.

“His jury voted for life. Two courts ruled the method unconstitutional. Today, the Constitution prevailed,” the statement said. “Now Governor Ivey can finish what the jury started: restore the jury’s verdict of life without parole.”

The ruling capped an extraordinary legal back-and-forth over the humaneness of the execution method.

Lee filed a lawsuit challenging Alabama’s protocol as a violation of the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, and U.S. District Judge Emily Marks ruled the method constitutional in May.

But a three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed her decision Monday, saying the three minutes it could take for an inmate to lose awareness is an “intolerable” time frame “given the suffering that would likely take place under Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia protocol.”

Marks reevaluated the case and ruled again Tuesday saying Lee had shown “that the protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.” The state appealed to the Supreme Court.

“If that ruling stands, it would be unprecedented in American history. Not only does it portend the first-ever permanent ban on a legislatively enacted method, but it would expand the concept of cruelty well beyond the bounds of the Eighth Amendment,” lawyers with the Alabama Attorney General’s Office wrote.

Lee’s lawyers asked the high court to keep the execution on hold, saying in a response that Alabama was asking it to intervene at the eleventh hour “to allow an execution that has been found unconstitutional to proceed.”

Prison officials said Lee did not request a final meal Thursday but had potato chips, Skittles, water and a Sprite in the hours ahead of his possible execution.

Marks did not block the state from executing Lee with one of the other approved methods, the electric chair or lethal injection. It is unclear how quickly the state could switch, however.

Alabama began using nitrogen gas to carry out some executions in 2024. The method involves strapping a respirator to a person’s face and replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death from lack of oxygen.

Nitrogen has been used in eight executions in the United States — seven times in Alabama and once in Louisiana. Lee was scheduled to be the ninth.

During the previous Alabama nitrogen executions, the inmates shook, pulled at the restraints and exhibited labored breathing. During the state’s last execution by nitrogen gas, 30 minutes elapsed between Anthony Boyd exhibiting signs of being impacted by the gas and state officials closing the curtain to the viewing room to signal the execution was complete.

The state has maintained that the method is constitutional and causes no more suffering than other execution methods.

Lee, who is currently housed at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, was convicted of two counts of capital murder for killing Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson while robbing a pawnshop on Dec. 12, 1998.

Prosecutors said Lee entered Jimmy’s Pawnshop with a sawed-off shotgun and shot Ellis, the owner, and Thompson, an employee.

A jury voted 7-5 to give Lee a sentence of life imprisonment. However a judge overrode that and sentenced him to death.

Alabama ended the practice of judicial override in 2017 and no longer allows a judge to disregard a jury’s sentencing decision in death penalty cases.

Bestselling author John Grisham called on Gov. Kay Ivey to honor the jury's decision and commute Lee's sentence to life without parole.

“The practice of a judge overriding a jury was declared unconstitutional and so indefensible that Alabama itself abolished it in 2017,” Grisham said in a statement. “Jeffery Lee’s jury made its decision, the Alabama Legislature later agreed that juries, not judges, should decide life or death sentences.”

This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections on Thursday, June 11, 2026, shows Jeffery Lee, who was sentenced to death for killing two people during a 1998 robbery at a pawn shop. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)

Protesters gather outside the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala., on Monday, June 8, 2026, to oppose an upcoming execution in Alabama. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

This undated photo from the Alabama Department of Corrections shows Jeffery Lee, who was sentenced to death for killing two people during a 1998 robbery at a pawn shop. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)

Abraham Bonowitz, of the group Death Penalty Action, leads a demonstration outside the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala., on Monday, June 8, 2026, to oppose an upcoming execution in Alabama. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)