The Walking Dead stars cut ties with Walker Stalker Con

For years now, Walker Stalker Con has been the place to go for fans of The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, and the rest of AMC’s expanding Walking Dead Universe. But the con looks to be in trouble, with star Khary Payton (Ezekiel) saying on Twitter that not only is he not coming to the upcoming Walker Stalker Con in Atlanta over Halloween weekend, but neither are big names like Norman Reedus (Daryl), Melissa McBride (Carol), Danai Gurira (Michonne) and others:

Cooper Andrews (Jerry) confirmed separately that he isn’t coming, either:

Why the mass exodus of actors? The problems have been brewing for a while.

It’s been clear for a long time that the actors haven’t been happy with their experience at Walker Stalker Con. Payton reaffirmed that he would be avoiding the convention the other day, but he announced that he would no longer being attending any of the events — there are generally several a year — back in June:

"After a lot of consideration, I’ve decided to no longer attend Walker Stalker/FanFest conventions. I’m sure we’ll have opportunities to meet each other at different events but at this time, I think it’s best to take a bow and walk away. I have met some great people through WSC and I can’t wait to find you out in the world soon. My unlimited love to you all."

Andrews, too, has been clear on his position for a while:

"I’m also pulling out of ALL Walker Stalker/FanFest shows for the foreseeable future. I LOVE meeting all of you, but as far as I’m concerned, Walker Stalker is not the best place for me to do that. I don’t write this easily, but I’ve been listening to my gut for as long as I remember and I’m not gonna start ignoring it now. I’ll see you all in other conventions! And of course, there will be cobbler."

Speaking back in June, star Angel Theory (Kelly) was a little more explicit about why actors don’t want to go to these events:

"One thing I can say is I genuinely enjoyed my time doing it, I love getting to engage with the fans and talk to you guys and get to meet y’all and take goofy, silly photos, it’s supposed to be a fun thing. It’s supposed to be fun for the both of us — for the fans and for the actors themselves. However, it is not fun when it comes to not getting paid from the Walker Stalker company, what is owed to the actors. Just like you guys, y’all not getting y’all refunds back, the actors are not getting paid."

So it sounds like the actors were having trouble getting paid for their time, which is plenty reason not to participate.

Things got worse at a recent Walker Stalker Con in Atlanta, where Angel Theory — who is hard of hearing — had an unsettling interaction with a security guard. Star Nadine Marissa (Nabila) gave her account of what happened in a series of videos. It began when a guard approached Angel while she was playing with Nova, her service dog. “So Angel’s playing around with Nova, the security guard begins to scream at her to ‘Stop, pick up the dog,’ in a very demeaning manner,” Marissa said. “Enough that he caused a commotion. Now, all of this could have been avoided if the security guard walked up to tap her, to ask her to pick Nova up. And it would have been over. That’s not what happened. The security guard started yelling at her in a demeaning tone, to get the dog. ‘Stop, stop, stop!’”

"Now also, if this security guard was provided the information that she was hearing impaired, he would have known that she doesn’t speak that way. She can’t hear you. So he continued to pretty much verbally assault her, and say, ‘Pick up the dog, you’re not listening to me.’ Well, Angel sees that there’s a commotion going — remember, at this point, Angel still cannot hear. She physically cannot hear. So all she sees is a commotion happening. She picks up Nova and she walks over. So when she walks over to try to understand what’s going on, there’s no interpreter there to explain to her that something needs to happen."

Things escalated from there, with “police officers in full gear holding pretty much assault rifles” showing up at the scene, according to Marissa. “As that’s happening, of course, the officers who are carrying guns are walking up, trying to see what’s happening. That’s what their job is, to walk up and see what’s happening. Can you imagine, being deaf, not knowing what’s happening, you turn around, and there are two to three officers standing behind you, holding rifles?”

Marissa also accuses CEO Jamie Frazier, who was nearby, of failing to deescalate the situation or secure an ASL interpreter for Angel.

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As you can see, this was a disaster. A few days later, Frazier announced his resignation in a Facebook post:

"It became too much and beyond my capabilities. Today, I’m turning it over to new leadership and stepping down. I will no longer have any decisions in the direction of the company and it’s daily management. I will make sure that they are up to speed on each and every issue and make myself available to assist them in any way that would help them succeed."

And that’s where we are. It’s hard to imagine how Walker Stalker Con could bounce back from this.

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h/t ComicBook.com