Copyright The Austin Chronicle
Hope you’re holding on to your hats! As the Chronicle was preparing a story on homegrown LGBTQIA bar Cheer Up Charlies’ recent acquisition by Florida-based company Pride Holdings Group, co-owners Maggie Lea and Tamara Hoover reached out with the following statement: “As of 2:15pm, November 4th 2025, both parties have amicably agreed to part ways. Both parties have rescinded, and Pride Holdings is no longer involved in Cheer Up Charlies. Our [LLC] membership interests have been returned and we (Tamara Hoover & Maggie Lea) remain owners of Cheer Up Charlies.” This is just the latest loop-de-loop in the Cheer Up Charlies rollercoaster. Less than three months ago, unpaid back rent and related financial struggles threatened to close the bar. A late August crowdfunding campaign successfully raised over $58,000 to keep the popular Red River Cultural District queer venue open. Then, on Oct. 14, the co-owners announced that they were selling the bar to Pride Holdings Group, a Florida-born hospitality group that emerged in July 2025 and quickly bought up LGBTQIA entertainment venues in Georgia, Florida, Chicago, and Sydney, Australia. Lea and Hoover were set to stay on as head management and become shareholders in the publicly traded company. At the time, Lea told the Chronicle that she was excited about the potential acquisition and the opportunity to expand the community-centered brand she and Hoover have established in the bar’s 16 years. “Tamara and I would not have sold if it was somebody that called us and told us that they were gonna buy the space, wipe the name, let everyone go, and change it,” Lea said in October. “They are not doing any of that.” Despite Lea’s reassurances, the announcement was met with mixed responses. Online, some fans of the venue congratulated the local owners on a perceived step toward financial stability and increased accountability. Others had tough questions for the pair, given that many recently donated to Cheer Ups’ August fundraiser, and given fiercely protective locals’ skepticism toward out-of-towners. KUT parody Instagram account @kuc_bignews, which became a key voice in the pushback following Cheer Up Charlies’ fundraising campaign, published – and later retracted – incorrect information stating that members of the Pride Holdings board were registered Republican voters, leading to internet uproar. The account also pointed out that an Instagram page bearing the Pride Holdings name and logo was following Donald Trump Jr. and Morgan Wallen, among other MAGA associates. Pride Holdings did not address a request for comment on this specific issue, but Cheer Up Charlies claimed in a since-deleted post that the accounts were accidentally followed by a junior employee whose social media access has since been revoked. Over the course of the business’ entanglement with Cheer Ups, three representatives from Pride Holdings asserted to the Chronicle that the organization is not MAGA-affiliated. Oilcan Harry’s owner Scott Neal spoke with the Chronicle before the deal was called off about different concerns, conveying anxieties about the potential harm a large holdings group could cause in Austin’s small LGBTQIA nightclub scene. “This is the Walmart and McDonald’s of business models, but now they’re bringing it for the LGBTQ entertainment bar,” Neal said, comparing the move to a Walmart closing out a local dry goods store and expressing fear that Cheer Ups’ increased access to resources could put the squeeze on locally owned clubs. More than that, Neal worried that verbal assertions that Cheer Ups would retain its local character and community stature were not enough to insulate the bar from the larger pressures at play in an SEC-regulated public entity. Changes in the board makeup or larger governmental influence could impact the holding group’s governance in the future, he pointed out. On Friday, Oct. 31, when asked what written protections would shield the bar and its parent company from future alterations in the case of a shareholder shake-up, Pride Holdings did not address the question. It’s unclear why the deal fell apart. Less than 24 hours before the rescission announcement, Pride Holdings PR representative Michael Goodman was adamant about the company’s desire to be involved in Austin’s community and discussed plans to join the city’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Pride Holdings Group has not responded to a request for comment on the rescinded deal as of this publication. “Tamara and I have nothing bad to say about Pride, we just put in a notice and we’re out,” Lea told the Chronicle following the rescission. “I think it’s what is best for both of us and they agree.” Rounding the corner on another curious development, Lea and Hoover did not comment on what lies ahead for the bar.
