your query now has 2 WHERE statements:
WHERE sort_date >= NOW()
WHERE DATE_FORMAT(sort_date, "%Y-%m-%d") >= Date_Format(Now(), "%Y-%m-%d")
only use the one where statement:
SELECT * FROM events
WHERE DATE_FORMAT(sort_date, "%Y-%m-%d") >= Date_Format(Now(), "%Y-%m-%d")
that is what this part of the WHERE statement is doing:
Date_Format(Now(), "%Y-%m-%d")