As reported earlier by the Fandom Pulse’s Jon Del Arroz, C2E2 has canceled the press pass of Anna, That Star Wars Girl, a popular YouTuber and journalist on the X platform, announced to her thousands of fans that she was no longer allowed to report on the C2E2 convention being held at McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill. on April 26 to 28.
Announcing on X on April 4, Anna stated, “Got the email; C2E2 canceled my press pass. It’s on🤬”
But it gets even worse.
Anna said the reason for the cancellation was “diversity requirements,” telling her fans, “The ‘reason’ C2E2 gave for canceling me was ‘diversity’ requirements… I’m Azorean, Danish, African, & few others. A true mut[t]. Azores population is 242,846, California Azorean is 350,000. The world population is 8.1 Billion. 592,846 out of 8.1 billion is 0.007319086419753086%…”
Anna added, “@c2e2 @DlandoCalrisianYou want us to believe you care about diversity & ‘minorites’ I’m probably one of the most ‘diverse’ wahmen that applied for press. You are full of shit.”
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Now, Anna is promising a fight, telling the C2E2 organizers in another post: “you just messed with the wrong Hobbit…”
Obviously, Anna should consult with a qualified attorney, but that sounds like a violation of federal and Illinois civil rights law, as convention centers are public accommodations under Illinois law: “A place of public accommodation includes, but is not limited to … an auditorium, convention center, lecture hall, or other place of public gathering…”
Race and ethnicity are definitely protected classes under Illinois civil rights law, with race, national origin, and ancestry all covered. That’s bad enough.
The cancellation came atop canceling an exhibitor appearance by Inglorious Rex creator Shane Davis, Godlike and Graveyard Shift creator Jon Malin, and Cyberfrog creator Ethan Van Sciver based on alleged “offensive verbal comments” in violation of the C2E2 code of conduct.
Speaking on a March 30 YouTube livestream hosted by Malin, Davis, whose table for Nine Lives Comics at the world-class convention was canceled, stated, “In the letter, again, they don’t really emphasize who’s been harassed. They actually just say harassment and then try to put in parentheses race, gender, whatever…”
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Quoting from the letter that was received by Davis, Malin outlined the section of the letter that was being cited: “I’m just going to tell people the line in that they actually wrote…: ‘The conduct of Mr. [Van] Sciver and Mr. Malin including but not limited to… ‘offensive verbal comments’ in relation to ‘race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender presentation and sexual orientation’ are indeed in violation of the code of conduct.’”
But in addition to potential public accommodations considerations, does C2E2 remember that McCormick Place is a “limited purpose governmental entity” owned by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), that was organized under law by the Illinois state legislature and needs to maintain a First Amendment policy?
Again, Anna, ThatStarWarsGirl, and Shane Davis would want to consult with qualified attorneys, but these sure sound like viewpoint and freedom of the press discrimination in potential violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments by the MPA’s licensee, C2E2.
But is McCormick Place a public forum that has to uphold the First Amendment? The fact is that C2E2 is held at McCormick Place, which is owned by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, is “a limited purpose governmental entity” which as a result of a being governmental agency, in fact has a First Amendment policy, which you can read here at https://mccormickplace.com/epg/25_1st-amendment_information.pdf
Although the policy might not be of much use in getting Anna her press pass back, or Shane Davis, Jon Malin, and Ethan Van Sciver their table back, it *would* allow them — if they or their fans chose to do so — to protest at areas around the convention center and distribute non-commercial leaflets to convention attendees protesting the cancellations.
After speaking with an attorney off the record, who said there’s no need for litigation per se but that a protest might ultimately help generate publicity to get the table and anyone else who barred reinstated.
Here’s what the policy says about getting a permit, requiring at least seven days notice: “HOW TO SUBMIT THE PERMIT APPLICATION … A permit to engage in non-commercial expressive activity in the areas described in this Policy may be obtained by completing the Application attached to this Policy as Appendix A. Applications should be submitted by mail or hand delivery to the Administrative Offices of McCormick Place, 301 East Cermak Road, Chicago, IL 60616, or email mcplgeninfo@mccormickplace.com. Applications for use of the McCormick Square or Lakeside Center Sidewalk Areas by ten (10) or more persons must be received by McCormick Place|ASM Global at least seven (7) days before the day for which a permit is sought. Applications for permits to use the McCormick Square or Lakeside Center Sidewalk Areas by less than ten (10) persons, and to use the Primary or Secondary Leafleting Areas, as the case may be, will be accepted by McCormick Place|ASM Global at any time.”
Now, as for whether the fact that the convention is held on government property makes McCormick Place a public forum governed by the First Amendment (and potentially liable) is an interesting question. In 2004, activist Katherine Albrecht argued that McCormick Place was indeed a public forum in federal court, but without a ruling, as the case was ultimately settled in 2012.
That settlement is what led to the First Amendment policy now established that lets anyone protest in the designated areas during conventions. As it is, presently, MPEA maintains that it is what is known as a “non-public forum” and it says it is not subject to full First Amendment protection.
At the very least, it might be very interesting to see if the MPEA would grant a permit to protest C2E2 right outside C2E2. Given that the convention center has previously settled the question of whether they are a public forum out of court rather than at trial, it sounds like they might be very sensitive to one of their licensees creating a potential liability risk for them.
That is, maybe requesting a permit to protest C2E2 and making the point of the protest that civil and First Amendment rights were violated could be used to pressure C2E2 to reinstate the press pass and the table just to make the headache go away.
And then if MPEA denies the permit, that might be another First Amendment violation on top of everything else. Just saying.
Even if there isn’t much of a legal case, what might help would simply be letters from organizations and companies, and there’s certainly always the right to protest!
Any attempt to persuade the MPEA and C2E2 to reconsider these cancelations and their obvious civil rights, First and Fourteenth Amendment implications, whether in writing or in person, could ultimately open doors for other journalists and creators in the future.
The fight for liberty is always one small battle at a time. Never surrender!
What do you think of C2E2 discriminating against people like ThatStarWars Girl and Ethan Van Sciver? Leave a comment and let us know.
Robert Romano is a contributor to the Fandom Pulse and the Editor-in-Chief of Comicsgate.org.
They banned her because she thought for herself. Just like Disney firing Gina Carano over her tweets.