#ryan kopf

Ryan Kopf is apparently running for public office.

So. Okay. People are shoving Ryan Kopf and Vic Mignogna into one catagory. I wasn't gunna comment on it but a close friend brought this up so I can't just let this slide.

Ok. My two cents. Mignogna was accused of hugging fans who didn't want hugs and head kisses, (he's Italian, that's how they do.) for being homophobic (which is patently false. See https://youtu.be/LVt81yaqv4s ) and for being rude to con workers (okay...the guy is a diva. Have you seen his pants?) and for being anti-Semitic (also false.) the original posts that started this whole shebang all came out and said the accusations are false. Mignogna did not sexually harass anyone. He was only attacked because of the mob mentality to claim everyone as a victim or survivor when in actuality they were just uncomfortable. Mignogna will adjust and remember in the future to ask before he hugs. He has already put out two apologies, one as a speech and one in writing and has said how awful he feels about ever making people uncomfortable.

Ryan Kopf is an issue. He has been accused of bringing underage kids back to his hotel rooms, hosts cons just to sexually assault and is in court for very serious charges.

The fact that people are using the hashtag that was designed to attack Mignogna to back up the so called stance against an actual offender minimalizes what Kopf has actually done. Because with Mignogna being proven innocent in many of these cases and Kopf being an actual predator, you are taking away the validity of the Me Too movement, discrediting and entire group of survivors of sexual assault, and silencing them more effectively than their abusers ever could.

Alright. Let's talk about Anime Midwest and Ryan Kopf.

Before I begin I want to make this clear. Do not go and bother, harass, make fun, etc people going to AMW. Inform don't bully others.

I've been pretty quiet lately and a lot of it is because I needed to be quiet for a while. It's been known for a pretty long time within the community that Ryan Kopf is a not a good person (that's the nicest way to put it). The less sugar coated way is that Ryan Kopf is a known predator and has been charged for rape.

The past few weeks leading up to AMW has been a ride. I've been reading what victims said, what Ryan Kopf said, police reports, AMKE's statement, and more. More and more came up and then Ryan decided to do something stupid and uploaded, for lack of better words, his own porn.

Seeing everything was very upsetting to me. I always try and keep my personal life away from my public life but in short all of this was reminding me of something from my past. I've tried to put that away but all of this stuff about Ryan Kopf has caused a lot of this to resurface. Which is the biggest reason why I haven't said anything until now.

Yes I will be going AMW. I'm not going to the con. I have a hotel commitment I can't cancel on. I will not be promoting this con. I will not be vlogging. I will not be doing anything but informing about Ryan Kopf from now on. Why am I cosplaying? Because I made plans with my friends and I honestly just need a weekend to be my nerdy self.

Convention Planning

AnimeCon.org

So I thought I'd make a Tumblr search friendly version of this post. This is a podcast I put out yesterday about how I spent the last seven years being sued by Ryan Kopf, the owner of Chrono Pop LLC/AnimeCon.org (which operates Animinneapolis, Anime Midwest, Meta Con, Kanpai Con, Con+Alt+Delete and more).

Ryan Kopf has been suing me in one form or another for over seven years. With the conclusion of the Illinois suit against myself and former Nerd & Tie contributor Pher Sturz earlier this month, we thought we should sit down and talk about what’s happened over those years. We discuss the full timeline of events, what I was actually accused of saying, and how things affected us.

Links Referenced in the video:

Our Ryan Kopf Lawsuit Info Center (contains copies of filings, timelines, etc)

Our “Ryan Kopf” Tag (All Posts We’ve Made Referencing Him)

Tumblr Post that contains the 2013 police report

“Why I Won’t Go To A Ryan Kopf Run Convention” (Trae’s personal blog)

“Ryan Kopf sent me a Cease and Desist Letter” (Trae’s Personal Blog)

Convention Runner Ryan Kopf Banned from Anime Milwaukee Following Alleged Sexual Assault (Anime News Network)

Convention Planner Ryan Kopf Banned from Anime Milwaukee Following Sexual Assault Allegations (AnimeCons.com)

So it’s been a while since I talked about this on Tumblr, so a lot of my current followers may have no idea that this is happening.

For the last several years, Ryan Kopf (who runs a number of conventions including Anime Midwest, AniMinneapolis, Kanpai!Con, QC Anime-zing!, Anime-ZAP!, Meta Con, Anime Halloween, and Liberty City Anime -- and has a financial stake in more) has been suing me for defamation over a couple of articles I wrote on my website Nerd & Tie.

These days Nerd & Tie is better known for our family of podcasts like BS-Free Witchcraft and Hex Positive, but covering fandom convention issues has always been a part of our core mission.

This lawsuit has gone on for over five years, and needless to say this gofundme hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface of our current costs. If you can contribute, I’d really appreciate it.

For more information about the lawsuit, you can find our information page on it here. For more information on Ryan Kopf (who also owns the bar “Fandoms” in Davenport, IA) you can google him.