Valorie Curry Harassed By Fans at Comic Con NI
Valorie Curry, a guest at Comic Con Northern Ireland in Lisburn this past weekend, posted to Instagram on Saturday about an encounter with two fans who came to her booth in costume and tried to get her to re-enact unspecified things her character in The Boys has done.
Curry posted an Instagram Story, so her original video is no longer available, but transcriptions can be found at many sites. She said, in part:
I know people saw a character that I played do some really extreme things on The Boys, and I don’t care if you’re in costume, I don’t care if you’re in character - it’s not OK and it’s not funny to demand those things from me in person at my booth. It’s not OK.
Frankly, to the person who did that repeatedly today, I made it pretty clear that it wasn’t OK, and that only seemed to make this person and their friend angry. I didn’t think this needed to be explained, but I was deeply uncomfortable - it was quite clear I was uncomfortable.
Curry emphasized that most of the fans she met were “respectful and kind”, and asked people to consider in the future “what is appropriate and professional.”
Monopoly Events, which runs Comic Con NI and similar conventions around the UK, provided a statement to the BBC emphasizing “zero tolerance” and encouraging anyone who feels harassed to contact staff members.
Most conventions these days have a formal code of conduct spelling out inappropriate behavior and what to do if attendees see it or are subjected to it. Neither the Monopoly Events website nor the one for Comic Con NI has a code of conduct available. Curry does not appear to have been aware of any option to report the encounter to the convention directly. A second Instagram Story mentioned that Monopoly Events reached out to her after she posted the first one.
In Brief
The World Science Fiction Society has officially published an apology to the disqualified finalists for last year’s Hugo Awards. The apology was voted on at the WSFS Business Meeting at last month’s Worldcon.
The Brisbane in 2028 Worldcon bid has changed its proposed dates to July 27-31, 2028, for the convenience of fans who want to also see the solar eclipse that will be visible from Australia the previous weekend.
FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 26-28) has added Seann William Scott and Jordan Walker Ross.
Spooky Empire (Orlando, Florida, October 11-13) has added Chris Sarandon.
Ohio Valley Filk Festival 40 (Worthington, Ohio, October 25-27) has added Barbership as special guests.
Event Calendar
Weekend of September 13-15
34th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and online
Furever West: Furry of the Opera (anthropomorphic), Laramie, Wyoming, USA
FurGiV 2024: Dragon Dance (anthropomorphic), Hanoi, Vietnam
Hawkland Gaming Festival, La Plata, Maryland, USA
Hold the Line (miniatures gaming), Port Clinton, Ohio, USA
Gaming Istanbul (video games), Istanbul, Turkey
Anime Conclave, Metairie, Louisiana, USA
Anime Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
Anime Fargo 2024: That Time I Got Isekai'd, Fargo, North Dakota, USA
AncientCityCon (media), St. Augustine, Florida, USA
Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA
Flower City Comic Con: Total Sports Experience, Rochester, New York, USA
Cartoon-A-Paloozah, Temecula, California, USA
Comic Con Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
London Comic Con, London, Ontario, Canada
Lagos Comic Convention, Lagos, Nigeria
Incredible Con (media), North Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Popcorn! (media), Sheffield, UK
East European Comic Con, Bucharest, Romania
Silver Scream Con III (horror media), Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
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Copernicon, Toruń, Poland
P-Con, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Southern Maine Steampunk Fair, Kennebunk, Maine, USA
Eurofurence 28: Cyberpunk (anthropomorphic), Hamburg, Germany
West Aussie Fur Frenzy: Urban Beats (anthropomorphic), Freemantle, Australia
SIBCON XXVIII (gaming), Butler, Pennsylvania, USA
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Spellenfestival Genk (gaming), Genk, Belgium
CuseCon 2024 (gaming), Syracuse, New York, USA
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Game Devs of Color Expo, online
Michigan GT (wargaming), Lansing, Michigan, USA
Southern Front 2024 (miniatures gaming), Morrisville, North Carolina, USA
Terra MystiCon (Terra Mystica boardgame), Montréal, Québec, Canada
Ani-Medford (anime), Medford, Oregon, USA
Spa-Con (media), Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA
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ThunderCon (media), Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
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Granite State Comicon (media), Manchester, New Hampshire, USA
Creation Washington D.C. (media), Arlington, Virginia, USA
Ultracon Comic Con, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Weekend of September 27-29
Archon 47, Collinsville, Illinois, USA
Necronomicon 2024: Let the Journey Begin, Tampa, Florida, USA
Capclave 2024 (books), Rockville, Maryland, USA
Innsmouth Literary Festival (weird fiction and cosmic horror), Bedford, UK
Anno 1900 (steampunk), Lasauvage, Luxembourg
Furry Takeover: Dino Might (anthropomorphic), Fontana Dam, North Carolina, USA
Rügen Furcon 2024 (anthropomorphic), Binz, Germany
Planszówki w Spodku (gaming), Katowice, Poland
AB-Confusion (gaming), online
Shake, Battle & Roll (gaming), Southampton, UK
ShireCon 2024 (gaming), Canaan, Connecticut, USA
TableToppers ‘24 (gaming), Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA
Hurricon 2024: Engaging in Asymmetric Warfare (miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA
Barrage 2024 (miniatures gaming), Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA
MAGWest 2024 (video games), San Jose, California, USA
Pixel Expo: Act III (video games), Perth, Australia
Portland Retro Gaming Expo (retro video games), Portland, Oregon, USA
SkålCon 2024 (Pathfinder& Starfinder RPGs), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
Rappig Crossing (Tales video games), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Animate!, Des Moines, Iowa, USA
Animeverse Fest, Pasadena, Texas, USA
Anime St. Pete, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
Tiger Con 2024 (anime), Valdosta, Georgia, USA
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Bowness-on-Windermere, UK
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (comics and animation), Columbus, Ohio, USA
La Mole (media), Mexico City, Mexico
SiouxperCon 2024: Happily Ever After (media), Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
King-Con 2024: Three Nights at King-Con (media), Kingman, Arizona, USA
Extremicon (media), St. Robert, Missouri, USA
Norcon (media), Norfolk, UK
FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Comic Con Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Fountain City Fandemonium (media), Bryan, Ohio, USA
Infinity Con Gainesville (media), Gainesville, Florida, USA
Missouri Anime Festival, Springfield, Missouri, USA
Lodi Comic Con, Lodi, California, USA
Colorado Fan Fest (media), Greeley, Colorado, USA
Fantasy Festival (media), Peristeri, Greece
Mare Fair (My Little Pony), Orlando, Florida, USA
The Uncanny Experience (X-Men), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Weekend of October 4-6
Octocon 2024 (Irish national sf convention), Dublin, Ireland
Conflux 18: Missions & Quests, Canberra, Australia
CONFelicity (relaxacon), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
AuthorCon IV (books), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
FilkCONtinental (music), Wernigerode, Germany
Jewelry City Steampunk Festival, Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA
H-Con the Twentieth: Fractailed Dimensions (anthropomorphic), Erbach, Germany
Furror: Posthumanpol (anthropomorphic), Opole, Poland
Furnavia (anthropomorphic), Kristiansand, Norway
Carolina Furfare: Medieval in the Mountains (anthropomorphic), Hickory, North Carolina, USA
WPAFW 2024 (anthropomorphic), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Adirondacon 7 (gaming), Glens Falls, New York, USA
Arnecon 2 (gaming), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Dragon Fall (gaming), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
Nuke-Con (gaming), Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA
Game On Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
Con on the Cob 2024: Eat Your Vegetables (gaming), Richfield, Ohio, USA
SydCon 2024 (gaming), North Ryde, Australia
KamCon ‘24 (gaming), Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Spieltage Essen (boardgames), Essen, Germany
SCG Con Washington DC (collectible card games), Washington, DC, USA
Pittsburgh Gaming Expo (video games), Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA
Sonic Con UK (Sonic the Hedgehog), Manchester, UK
Kami-Con HAI (anime), Huntsville, Alabama, USA
Anime Fiesta, McAllen, Texas, USA
Anime Ink (anime & tattoos), Richmond, Virginia, USA
Romics (comics), Rome, Italy
áyA Con 2024 (indigenous comics and art), Denver, Colorado, USA
Comic Con Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
Zurich Pop Con, Zurich, Switzerland
Kadabra Con (media), Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
57th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Giganticon (superhero media), Killeen, Texas, USA
Magic Con (fantasy media), Bonn, Germany
Jemcon 2024: Free and Easy in Phoenix (Jem and the Holograms), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
UK PonyCon 2024 (My Little Pony), Nottingham, UK
Weekend of October 11-13
Stranimondi 2024 (Italian national sf convention), Milan, Italy
DeepSouthCon 62: ConToberFest, Helen, Georgia, USA
Fantasycon 2024, Birmingham, UK
Alamo City Furry Invasion: Dr. Virginia's Island Paradise, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Confuror 2024: Monstruos vs Luchadores (anthropomorphic), Guadalajara, Mexico
Atlanta Game Fest 44, Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
Viking-Con 43 (gaming), Tårnby, Denmark
Furnace Games Convention XIX (RPGs), Sheffield, UK
PAX Australia (gaming), Melbourne, Australia
Congress of Gamers Fall Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA
Icon Gaming, Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
Capital City Gaming Con (gaming), West Des Moines, Iowa, USA
CinCityCon 2024 (gaming), Hamilton, Ohio, USA
ConFABulous (LGBTQ+ gaming), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Travellercon/USA 2024 (Traveller RPG), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Banzaicon 12: Spooktacular (anime), Larvik, Norway
Animasia (anime), Bordeaux, France
Anime Mundo, El Paso, Texas, USA
Anime USA, Arlington, Virginia, USA
Iberanime, Matosinhos, Portugal
Polaris (anime), Hamburg, Germany
WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Oni-Con 2024 (anime), Galveston, Texas, USA
Tsubasacon 2024: Cyberpunk vs. Steampunk (anime), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
NW Idolfest (anime idols), Seattle, Washington, USA
Geek Days Caen (media), Caen, France
MondoCon 2024 (media), Budapest, Hungary
Creation Charlotte (media), Concord, North Carolina, USA
Nickel City Comic Con, Buffalo, New York, USA
Comiccon de Québec, Ville de Québec, Québec, Canada
BADcon (media), Pleasant Valley, Missouri, USA
Hypercon (media), Wichita Falls, Texas, USA
Spooky Empire (horror media), Orlando, Florida, USA
57th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival, New York City, New York, USA
Coda
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