Boycott Anime Matsuri

Continuing from the post I made in 2015, here are more reasons why you should not support Anime Matsuri. In case, you needed a refresher course: Anime Matsuri is an anime convention in Houston, TX owned and operated by President Deneice Phan Leigh and Director John Leigh. Running Anime Matsuri is Deneice and John’s full-time job and main source of income. The entirety of Anime Matsuri is built solely around them as individuals. Every business decision is ultimately made by John and Deneice. It is physically impossible to remove them from their positions since they are the sole owners. Staff members of Anime Matsuri have no say in the convention’s financial decisionsRead More →

Houston anime fans are urging others to boycott one of the largest anime conventions in North America due to sexual harassment allegations against the event’s CEO and manager. Anime Matsuri attracts thousands of anime enthusiasts and cosplayers annually to Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center. Now the rise of social media accounts dedicated to protesting this year’s event centering around 2015 accusations of sexual harassment against sitting CEO and Event Manager John Leigh is competing for the spotlight. RELATED: Texas Rep Al Green issues unprompted statement on past sexual harassment accusations View image on Twitter Boycott Anime Matsuri@BoycottMatsuri First time hearing about #BoycottAnimeMatsuri? Here’s a quick summary, and more detailed infoRead More →

Have you ever heard of the Streisand Effect? It’s named after the time movie star Barbara Streisand attempted to suppress photos of her Malibu home, leading to the unintended result of those photos becoming even more widely disseminated. The same goes for why we’re talking about 2015 sexual harassment accusations in 2018. John Leigh, a showrunner for Anime Matsuri—the second largest anime convention in North America—is digging up his own accusations by attempting to silence a vlogger who talked about them. It’s a bad look at any time, but especially during the #MeToo era. It’s also an unusual choice considering this scandal was all but forgotten. But, sinceRead More →

Back in July, we reported that multiple women had accused Anime Matsuri co-founder John Leigh of sexual harassment. The entire situation is a mess, and Leigh, frankly, seems like a giant creep. Well (and I didn’t know it was possible) it seems like things are even worse at Anime Matsuri than just having a creepo in charge. The Houston Press has put up a lengthy, in depth piece on the bizarre drama that surrounds the Houston anime con. You should really just read the article, but highlights include (besides the sexual harassment allegations) Anime Matsuri organizers promising free admission to another con (without consulting thatRead More →

It’s not uncommon in anime to see a lone girl standing bravely before a colorfully dressed, angry horde determined to get past her, but this was real life and Sarah Skrobarczyk, president of Delta H Con, had to make do with diplomacy given her lack of ninja skills or magical moon powers. “We’ll work with you,” she told the irate mob. “We can give you day passes at a discount.” Roughly 200 people had showed up on a busy Saturday at the registration table of Delta H Con 2012 expecting free admission. That’s what they were promised. They had just come from the Asian/Pacific AmericanRead More →

Multiple women have come forward online over the past month to accuse John Leigh, the event manager of the Anime Matsuri convention, of sexual harassment and inappropriate sexual conduct.  Anime Matsuri, one of the ten largest anime conventions in America, is an annual celebration of Japanese pop culture, fashion and art. People travel from all over the world to attend since it began in 2007, but its image has recently been darkened by a string of blogs and online posts from women who claim Leigh’s behavior toward them is overtly sexual and unwanted, particularly from a married man and a father. The most prominent voiceRead More →