Walker Stalker Con Denies Rumors Of Bankruptcy

Walker Stalker Con has been the target of rumors and bad-mouthing from fans following some less-than-admirable stars aligning — or not aligning — in recent months. After several guests backed out of recent conventions and a pair of conventions in the United States were put on hold entirely, comment sections began to vent their frustrations in regards to the international brand’s recent events. Now, Walker Stalker Convention chief James Frazier has addressed the rumors and issues in an official statement.

“While we typically don’t like to address rumors and speculation, we feel it’s appropriate to do so at this time,” a post on the brand’s official Facebook page reads. “Walker Stalker Con and Heroes & Villains have NOT and are NOT filing for bankruptcy. Externally, what may appear as a lot of negative changes for the company actually are internally a lot of positive changes that needed to happen in order for the company to succeed.”

The Walker Stalker Conventions offer attendees the opportunity to meet stars of shows like The Walking Dead or Fear the Walking Dead, while also bringing cast members of titles which may be of similar interest such as Sons of Anarchy or LOST. The convention began as a podcast co-hosted by Frazier before evolving into an event which brings thousands of attendees to events for a single day, spawning the company’s slogan, “For fans, by fans.”

“When we created Fan Fest, it was because we knew, that in the long term, the world of The Walking Dead and the Arrowverse would not be around forever at the level of popularity that they were at their peaks AND we wanted to create access for fans from other genres to come and enjoy our events,” the statement goes on.

“Our company grew quickly and, with all companies, we’ve had our share of growing pains. During a critical point at the start of this year, the company had to decide what its long-term vision was if it were to succeed. That decision was made. And with that decision, it was best to cut certain events, cut ties with certain entities, and restructure the company to bring back some of the things that made the company great when it started.

“We realize that in the short-term, these decisions have a negative impact on people. But if these decisions were not made, this company would not be here just four months later. So, we’ve torn off the band-aid and everything you are seeing and feeling, well, quite frankly, sucks. Let’s get all of the hard and ugly stuff out of the way, and it’s possible there may be more hard decisions ahead too, but let’s focus on the things and the reasons why people enjoy our events to begin with.

“For fans, by fans. That’s our motto. We haven’t been living up to that and that’s the biggest reason for all of the changes. And, we are sorry. But we’re working hard to make things right and do things better. We’re appreciative of your support, patience and understanding. We hope you’ll forgive us and stick with us through this difficult period. To those attendees who have stuck with us, we are grateful. Your kind words, emails, and other showings of support have helped us remember why we keep doing this, why we want to keep doing this, and why we will come out on the other side of this better than ever.”

The statement was met by a mixed bag of comments from fans of the Facebook page, some outraged of a lack of refunds from recent cancellations and others showing support for a convention which helped them meet friends and celebrities.

Fan Fest, the parent company to Walker Stalker Con, was named in Inc 5000’s list of fastest-growing companies in 2017.