'Halo' composer, GOP candidate says venue canceled his event for political reasons, he will host it elsewhere

Republican congressional candidate and composer for the "Halo" video game series, Marty O’Donnell, said his video game event was canceled by a venue in Las Vegas for vague political reasons, but he's resolved to host it somewhere else instead.

O'Donnnell is running for Congress as a Republican in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District.

The longtime video game composer entered politics after a decades-long career that also included writing music for television commercials and jingles.

O’Donnell spoke to Fox News Digital about how he planned to host a gaming event, specifically a "Halo" tournament where players gather to compete head-to-head in the same room rather than from their own homes.

This event would have been used to celebrate nostalgia for the iconic alien-fighting series and to boost civic engagement among young people as both a part of his campaign and a celebration of the franchise’s 25th anniversary .

"We were planning a Halo LAN (Local Area Network) party and tournament here in Las Vegas at HyperX Arena," he said.

"We spoke to them for over a month and all of a sudden, out of the blue, they came back to us, and they said, because of your political affiliations, we're going to have to cancel, which of course meant now it's up to us to figure out a way to still do what we want to do, but we just can't depend on HyperX Arena." GAMING-WORLD VETERAN WHO RIPPED ‘WOKE’ CULTURE SCORES TRUMP-BACKED BATTLEGROUND PRIMARY WIN The HyperX Arena is a business on the grounds of the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.

O’Donnell’s campaign provided Fox News Digital an email from HyperX Arena’s representatives denying that O’Donnell’s event there was canceled due to him being a Republican, but rather due to "the political affiliations and election-related nature of the proposed program." The Luxor Hotel itself, from which the HyperX Arena rents its venue space as a vendor, has hosted numerous political events over the years, including a Bernie Sanders press event, a Democratic Party caucus, and a California College Republican event as recently as 2024.

Fox News Digital contacted the HyperX Arena’s representatives and received no immediate reply.

O’Donnell said he was uninvited from the Halo 25th anniversary reunion at the SacAnime pop culture convention in California after he said his comments about the alliance of the far-left and Islamism were taken out of context.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the SacAnime team and received no reply.

While O’Donnell lamented that "it seems like I'm being canceled because I'm a Republican running for Congress," he declared he is resolute about hosting the "Halo" tournament.

"Once we were rejected a couple of times now, we decided to take matters into our own hands," he said, revealing he is searching for another event venue.