Boycott organizers say at least a dozen celebrity guests and speakers have cancelled appearances at the Anime Matsuri convention this weekend in Houston amidst accusations the sexual harassment by convention organizer John Leigh.
The cancellations come despite an admission by Leigh that some things he said “were wrong, they were crass, and they were in bad taste.”
The apology was made in a blog published February 2.
Not everyone is accepting it.
“The owners do not care about safety of attendees/guests and will continue to take advantage of others unless more people know,” said Winnie T, a boycott supporter. “It would be very much appreciated if you can alert the public about this especially how the #MeToo movement has come to light.”
According to Chron.com, accusations against Leigh first surfaced in 2015 when he was accused of unwanted touching, slapping buttocks, sexual jokes, requesting nude photos, lifting up clothing and asking a woman when she last had an orgasm.”
“Although my messages were intended to be humorous and not serious, I realize that my intentions do not outweigh the way my words hurt the people I sent them to,” Leigh said in his blog. “At the time, I didn’t realize that I was being hurtful or harassing, and I was shocked to learn that my messages had been so hurtful to their recipients, again, people I considered my close friends. … I owe it to you all to do better. I can do better, I will do better, and I sincerely apologize.”
At the time he said he thought he was joking with friends.
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RE: Anime Convention Boycott Underway after Sexual Harassment Allegations: Sad little man. Joking? He must be so out of it to think such offensive actions and words are a joke. Inappropriateness is a psychological kind of disorder. Perhaps he grew up in a sexually abusive home where this kind of ‘joking’ was pervasive.
RE: Anime Convention Boycott Underway After Sexual Harassment Allegations: If you would like to make it more related to Asians, the other con owner, Deneice Leigh, is Vietnamese. She let all of these allegations slide and continue to have this con be poorly organized and understaffed as a for-profit convention. I don’t know how much sway she has on her husband but this is years of accounts of sexual harassment that keep popping up even before the major outlash in 2015.
More info: http://bit.ly/boycottam
RE: Anime Convention Boycott Underway after sexual Harassment allegations: This is classic WMAF. Perverted racist ugly white man
RE: D Chang on Anime Convention Boycott Underway after Sexual Harassment Allegations: Actually John Leigh is Nigerian.
RE: Anime Convention Boycott Underway after Sexual Harassment Allegations: He’s also half Romanian