More Walking Dead stars have confirmed they will no longer attend Walker Stalker Con after Khary Payton said it was “time to shut this sh-t down” when referring to the mostly Walking Dead-themed convention. Payton on Monday declared Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, and Cooper Andrews were among the talent who would not be participating when Walker Stalker returns to Atlanta over Halloween weekend 2020. Now former Walking Dead stars Laurie Holden, Jayson Warner Smith, Joshua Mikel and Fear the Walking Dead star Garret Dillahunt are among those severing ties with the convention, which recently announced it would be cutting back global appearances and keeping Walker Stalker exclusive to Atlanta, Georgia.
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Since Monday, Holden, Smith, Mikel and Dillahunt have tweeted their support after Payton and other Walking Dead stars gave notice confirming they will no longer attend Walker Stalker.
“I am not coming,” tweeted Holden, who portrayed Andrea in the zombie drama’s first three seasons.
In response to Payton’s tweet, Mikel, who played Savior Jared, wrote, “Ain’t comin!” Smith, who played Savior general Gavin, replied, “I’m with you fellers.”
I am not coming.
โ Laurie Holden (@Laurie_Holden) October 29, 2019
Iโm with you fellers.
โ Jayson Warner Smith (@JaysonWSmith) October 29, 2019
In his own tweet submitted to Payton’s thread, Dillahunt wrote, “No mas. No mas @kharypayton.”
No mas. ๐๐พ
โ Khary Payton (@kharypayton) October 28, 2019
Payton first announced his withdrawal from all Walker Stalker and Fan Fest events in June. These latest tweets come days after deaf star Angel Theory, who plays Kelly, was reportedly “verbally assaulted” by a member of the security staff at Walker Stalker Atlanta over the presence of her service dog.
Theory previously said “the actors are not getting paid” by the convention when explaining her decision to step away from Walker Stalker after fulfilling commitments to New Jersey, Nashville and Atlanta.
Interim CEO Michael DeVault temporarily suspended ticket sales following Payton’s tweet. In a Facebook post, DeVault explained sales were suspended “in order to give myself and our management team the time we need to answer several pressing questions and to plot our path forward.”
“To be clear: *we have a path forward.* There is a future, a bright one,” DeVault wrote. “We are simply taking a moment to determine the best steps to take as we assess all aspects of the company’s functions.” DeVault added ticket sales are expected to resume Friday, Nov. 1.
Robyn Householder, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau, later told News4 the BBB had 95 complaints about the Tennessee-based company.
“We’re really excited to see that some of the lead actors of the program have tweeted out that they’re no longer going to be apart of this event, because they’re quite frankly really tired of seeing their fans being taken advantage of,” Householder said.
In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, , DeVault said he is “distressed to read Khary’s statements months after he made his first one. It hurts me to think he is still bitter and upset. I’m still trying to move forward with the show and hope it will include Khary.”
New episodes of The Walking Dead Season 10 premiere Sundays at 9/8c on AMC. For more TWD intel, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.