Australia’s Supanova Convention Decides to Keep Firefly’s Adam Baldwin as a Guest Despite Outcry

After weeks of controversy and debate, Supanova Pop Culture Expo has released a statement saying Firefly actor Adam Baldwin will remain a guest at their upcoming June shows.

We had previously reported on a fan petition which aimed to revoke Baldwin’s guest status due to his support of Gamergate. If you recall, theactor was the one to coin the term for the movement which began as aharassment tactic toward women in the video game industry but disguised itself as an effort to ask for better ethics in video game journalism. It’s important to note that while many who call themselves Gamergate supporters actually do want serious discussions on ethics, the movement began and continues to be overrun by misogynistic individuals who want nothing more than to antagonize, harass, threaten, and destroy those looking to make so called “social justice” changes in the industry. It should also be noted that the most widely targeted individuals – Zoë Quinn, Brianna Wu, and Anita Sarkeesian – are not journalists.

When we reached out for comment on the situation, Daniel Zachariou, Founder and Event Director previously told us, “The fact of the matter is I’m not a gamer and had no idea about Gamergate. I was basking on a beach overseas during my annual holiday, August last year, when it all started.” They said they would be working through the responses they’d received. When we asked Baldwin for a statement he asked if we’d be lying in our post, as he felt we had when we made an update in a previous article about him on the site to correct erroneous information. He also asked us to include Psalm 109 in our post.

Though a counter petition that gained seemingly equal traction was started to keep Baldwin at the event, it was also accused of forging signatures in order to gain larger numbers. Regardess, after a few weeks of thinking on it and listening to potential attendees, Supanova has decided to keep Baldwin and also received specific remarks from him about the situation. A statement on their Facebook page reads:

Dear Friends and Fans,
Thank you for your patience while we have been absorbing the reaction to Adam Baldwin’s announcement as a guest for the Sydney and Perth 2015 expos this June. It has been a very challenging time for our team, a team that lives and breathes popular culture, in that we have been avalanched by two sets of fans: the first group called for Adam to be removed from the event and the second group called just as loudly to make sure he remained our guest.

As a backdrop to how we arrived at this juncture, Supanova has been trying to get Adam to come to Supanova since 2006 and we previously succeeded in April 2013 when he appeared at our Melbourne and Gold Coast events. The response from you, our fans, was overwhelmingly enthusiastic with a further call to action to invite him back from the fans in the cities that missed out. We again succeeded in securing him last year for June 2015 as part of the Whedonverse ‘Serenity’10th anniversary celebration alongside his co-stars Nathan Fillion and Morena Baccarin.

To exclude someone from Supanova for their views, even if we don’t share them, goes completely against the spirit of the expo that we’ve presented all these years as all our stars appear to discuss their work in pop culture, not their personal political or ideological viewpoints. We similarly embrace all our fans, whatever their various pop culture passions may be, and that inclusiveness is at our very heart.

Further, the concerns are far-reaching and complex, and contain an immense amount of discord. We feel, as Supanova, that we’re not positioned to adjudicate either way.

What we could do, however, is raise the main areas of concern with Adam himself, the concerns you as our fans have raised, and this is the reply that Adam shared with us:

“The harassment and threats being made on both sides of the ‪#‎GamerGate‬ debate shame the games industry and make it extremely difficult for casual observers to see the merits of arguments about corruption, ethics or journalism.

Threats of violence and/or “doxxing” should be reported to law enforcement and handled at their discretion. Such threats are reprehensible and have no place in any debate.

Obviously, I condemn harassment. The YouTube videos linked on Twitter at the outset last September contained no personal information of any individual. I had zero knowledge of what might be in their comments sections. No one can honestly be expected to check vast comment threads below articles or videos before linking to them.

Lastly, I believe that pop culture conventions are inappropriate venues for controversial topics, so I will respectfully not be discussing them at Supanova, or its related events.”

Given that we have Adam’s statement above verifying he will not discuss #GamerGate while stating categorically that he does not condone harassment, bullying or doxxing under any circumstances; given we as Supanova will not allow questions regarding the subject from the floor; given we as Supanova as a professional organisation must fulfil our contractual obligations; given Supanova will be providing the highest level of enforcement of our Code of Conduct (a condition of entry to the event) to ensure our strong anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies are maintained; and given that so many fans continue to support Adam’s appearance as part of our ‘Serenity’ 10th Anniversary celebration, we will be proceeding with Adam’s attendance as planned.

As we’ve already mentioned, Supanova Expo has an incredibly inclusive array of fans who kindly share the space with each other, based on their mutual passions for imaginary worlds. Our programming crosses all demographics, celebrating diversity and a wide variety of genres. Supanova does not condone or allow bullying or harassment in any way, shape or form at our events which ensures a friendly, safe and welcoming environment. Both the Code of Conduct and the spirit of Supanova are agreements to treat with honour and respect every single fan and friend at the expo. You’ve always made us so very proud with the positive atmosphere you have created at every event.

We ask you, the Supa-fans, to maintain those principles and standards so that we as a community can positively influence the future of fandom, and its direction, through our shared love of pop culture and the heroic values that define it.
Yours in fandom, always,
— Daniel Zachariou, Supanova Event Director

This is the first time Baldwin has publicly acknowledged the video he linked to back in August of last year which contained doxxing information of Quinn in it’s comments. He says in this statement he had no knowledge upon posting the video, which in entirely possible considering how many comments were on the video, though after tweeting it he was certainly made aware of this fact by Quinn and several others replying to him. In this case, it could be seens as a gesture of good faith if Baldwin echoed his important statements on his Twitter account with over 200,000 followers instead of making light of harassment.

As you can imagine, the response to the statement was mixed with several fans congratulating the convention for supporting Baldwin, while others vowed to form picket lines at the show. Albert Santos, who started the petition to have Supanova removed the actor from their lineup made this statement:

These past three weeks have been tough. My relationship with my girlfriend has been put to the test, my chronic illness has been exasperated, and my sleeping patterns are completely out of synch at this stage. I had to delete a seven-year-old blog that had a lot of my professional writing because it was compromised, as well as change my name on Facebook. Several of my mutual friends have had their personal information compromised. There is so much more that has happened behind the scenes, that I cannot discuss because the safety and security of those involved is paramount.

All this, for Supanova Pop Culture Expo to say that they are standing behind Adam Baldwin. They are standing behind a renown cyber-bully. That they buy his plead of ignorance, despite the threats and harassment that have gone on under the ‪#‎Gamergate‬ hashtag. In light of the ongoing misogyny in Australia and cyber-bullying culture, as we near the anniversary of the death of Charlotte Dawson, someone who was cyber-bullied herself, it’s concerning that an event devoted to supporting and cherishing pop culture for all ages has sided with someone who is so firecely against those tenants.

Baldwin has a history of calling for aggressive action, including doxxings, on others. He has called people “dipshits” and “morons”, has aggrivated key GamerGate tagret Zoe Quinn directly, has threatened former Supanova guest Wil Wheaton, has called Thanksgiving “Victory over the Savages Day” and has suggested that antivaccination campaigners all be “doxxed and tortured”. These are all things that he has said and done, primarily through his twitter handle, which he regularly wipes clean. These go directly against the code of conduct of Supanova, which they kindly in the statement supporting him.

Throughout all of this, the most concerning thing is how little consumer input Supanova have seeked. Not once was anyone formally asked about means to alleviate the matter. Instead, they actively seeked out prominent feminist figures, including Brianna Wu and Kirsty Mac, in informal and dubious settings to ask for ways to “better” the situation. In addition, not once did they seek to clarify if the counter-petition (which, for the record, was started by a teenager in Washington and filled with fake signatures from 8chan) was legitimate or created in good faith. They instead went with responses to their original post,

As a former Supanova attendee, cosplayer, volunteer, stall-holder and friend, I and many others, are disappointed beyond belief. However, now that we know where Supanova stand, will we regroup, and we will continue to put the pressure in any and every way we can. This does not end today. It never ends.

If you haven’t already, sign the petition:https://www.communityrun.org/petitions/revoke-adam-baldwin-s-invite-to-the-supanova-pop-culture-expo
I await Supanova’s call.
Albert Santos

We reached out once again to Supanova’s Zachariou to get specifics on any attendees wishing to get refunds on tickets. However, as of today, tickets for the June event have not yet gone on sale. Zachariou told us, “That said, refunds are only issued if particular guests are attached to specific tickets and that guest cancels. So a guest that someone doesn’t like being announced would not be a valid reason to provide a refund. However our general admission tickets are transferable so they could be sold to a third party should that fan decide not to attend.”

It’s very important to mention this isn’t simply a matter of disagreeing with someone’s “political or ideological viewpoints” for many of the petition signers, it’s about a real fear for safety they feel is involved in Baldwin’s inclusion at the events. The Mary Sue will keep you updated if any changes happen between now and the event.

Full Metal Jacket actor Adam Baldwin compares gay marriage to father-son marriage

Adam Baldwin, most famous for his roles in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and Joss Whedon science fiction series Firefly, has turned to Twitter to attack same-sex marriage – suggesting that fathers and sons will use it to get out of paying higher taxes.

‘What’s wrong, now, with a father marrying his son for love & to avoid tax penalties?’ Baldwin tweeted 21 February.

Baldwin had just prior tweeted a link to an article in which a Republican vying to replace Senate Republican Party leader Mitch McConnell in GOP primary runoffs had made similar arguments.

‘If it’s all right to have same-sex marriages, why not define a marriage — because at the end of the day a lot of this ends up being taxes and who can visit who in the hospital … — so a person may want to define themselves as being married to one of their children so that they can then in fact pass on certain things to that child financially and otherwise,’ Republican businessman Matt Bevin said a conservative talk-radio show.

‘Where do you draw the line?’

Both Baldwin and Bevin have said they were not implying incest – just fraud.

Baldwin was heavily criticized by other Twitter users who noted that opposite-sex marriage had not lead to mothers marrying their sons or fathers their daughters to avoid tax penalties.

‘Couldn’t you make that point with a mother and son? How does homosexuality come into it? Slippery slope nonsense,’ Twitter user Tyler Wilde tweeted in response.

‘I know right, because mothers marrying their sons is already such a big problem,’ posted Twitter user R.D.

Baldwin is not related to Alec Baldwin or any of his brothers – one of whom, Stephen Baldwin, is an evangelical Christian and opponent of same-sex marriage who is an ongoing court battle over charges of criminal tax evasion.

Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy

A man harasses a woman while another man kind of stands around doing nothing. A beautiful microcosm of recent events.

Feminist Frequency

A set of IRC logs released Saturday appear to show that a handful of 4chan users were ultimately behind #GamerGate, the supposedly grass-roots movement aimed at exposing ethical lapses in gaming journalism. The logs show a small group of users orchestrating a "hashtag campaign" to perpetuate misogynistic attacks by wrapping them in a debate about ethics in gaming journalism.

Nevertheless, Quinn soon had her accounts hacked and her personal information stolen (experiences she was accused of fabricating). Quinn's opponents tried to turn the entire situation into an ethical debate about the relationship between gaming press and game developers.The saga grew from a single blog post written by an ex-boyfriend of Zoe Quinn, a game developer who designedDepression Quest. The post was a lengthy diatribe filled with details about Quinn's alleged relationships with men, including a tryst with a gaming journalist who works for Kotaku. Anonymous users on reddit and 4chan spun this material into a story about how Quinn allegedly slept with multiple gaming journalists in return for coverage, though the allegations did not support such a claim. The journalist in question had quoted Quinn, once, months before they dated; he never wrote about her or her development efforts again.

The "ethics controversy" then sucked in Anita Sarkeesian, founder of Feminist Frequency, a video series aimed at exploring systemic misogyny in video games. Sarkeesian is no stranger to harassment; she has received a series of threats for her Feminist Frequency video series since the day its Kickstarter raised more money ($150,000) than she had requested ($6,000). The amount of money raised incensed Sarkeesian's critics, and after her August 25 video, "Women as Background Decoration, Part 2," Sarkeesian received graphic rape and death threats, eventually leaving her home after one of her harassers tweeted her own address at her.

The Quinn and Sarkeesian events led several publications (Ars included) to discuss the notion of a "gamer." In this context, "gamer" does not mean "all people who play video games"—a group now broad enough to easily outgrow the term's narrow origins in '80s toy marketing. Instead, the term more narrowly refers to hard-core video game fans, who skew young and male. In the words of Leigh Alexander at Gamasutra, it was through catering to this group that video games came to overemphasize guns, women, and money. With the industry expanding its horizons, some "gamers" felt left behind in a world that has started to turn against aspects of their favorite pastime. Under this view, "gaming" itself is under threat.

Quinn and Sarkeesian became lightning rods for "gamers" of this sort, and thus was born "#GamerGate," a hashtag that became a breeding ground for all kinds of conspiracy theories surrounding the "corrupt" systems that allowed Quinn and Sarkeesian to figure in the industry as they do. As the hashtag spread, spectators got increasingly drawn into arguments about the ethics governing relationships between game developers and the gaming press.

#GamerGate spread through Twitter and reddit and eventually drew high profile support from actor Adam Baldwin. Eventually a second hashtag sprouted, #notyourshield, which was pitched as an "attempt by the worldwide gaming community to show that this isn’t just male gamers who are speaking about gamergate, and this isn’t an issue of hating feminism or not wanting women in the community."

Adam Baldwin - "Daybreak" Tv Series Pilot - Details

New weblet the CW has picked up its first pilot since the announcement that the WB and UPN would fold, while Madeleine Stowe ("We Were Soldiers") will lead the Fox drama "Southern Comfort."

Also, NBC has greenlit the John Wells comedy pilot "Prodigy/Bully," and TV superhelmer James Burrows is in talks to direct Fox comedy pilot "’Til Death."

At the CW, incoming net entertainment toppertopper Dawn Ostroff has ordered "Runaway," from Sony Pictures TV. Frog/Eye execs took pains to point out that the netlet’s first purchase came from an outside supplier, rather than parents CBS or Warner Bros.

Drama, from exec producers Darren Star and Ed Zuckerman, revolves around a family who become fugitives in order to prove the innocence of the family’s patriarch — who’s convicted of murder. Chad Hodge ("Tru Calling") wrote the pilot, which was originally developed by Ostroff and her team at UPN.

Meanwhile, "Prodigy/Bully," from Warner Bros. TV, is a single-camera half-hour about a family whose genius son uses his smarts to get what he wants. Wells will exec produce with Hank Perlman ("New Jersey Turnpikes"), Paris Barclay ("The West Wing") and Jon Feldman ("Reunion"). Perlman wrote the pilot with Steve Elliott and also will direct.

Meanwhile, on the casting beat :

* Stowe will play Charlotte in "Southern Comfort," which comes from 20th Century Fox TV. She plays a Mississippi woman who becomes a top Dixie Mafia player when her husband goes to jail. Stowe’s credits include "The General’s Daughter""The General’s Daughter" and "Impostor."

* Adam Baldwin will star opposite Taye Diggs in ABC’s "Day Break." He’ll play grizzled police vet Chad Shelton in the Touchstone TV pilot. Baldwin’s TV credits include "Firefly," "The X-Files" and "The Inside." He appeared in features "Serenity" and "The Patriot."

* Jonathan Silverman ("The Single Guy") will star as Henry in ABC’s "In Case of Emergency." Touchstone TV project, which has a six-episode commitment, revolves around four childhood friends realizing life didn’t turn out as expected. Silverman joins previously announced stars Greg Germann and Kelly Hu. His recent credits include the feature "Just a Little Harmless Sex" and the telepic "Deacons of Defense."

* Coby Ryan McLaughlin ("Jack & Jill") will play Brian and Krysten Ritter ("Veronica Mars") is set as Melinda in CBS’ untitled Port & Wiseman comedy. Project, about a young couple who have to deal with the wife’s extended family, comes from NBC Universal TV. Pam Fryman is onboard to direct.

* Jay Paulson ("Imaginary Heroes") has joined the cast of ABC’s "October Road," about a novelist who returns home, from Touchstone TV.

* Rashida Jones ("Little Black Book") will star in the ABC pilot "Our Thirties," from Touchstone TV and the Littlefield Co.

As for Burrows, the helmer — always in demand during pilot season — will direct "’Til Death" depending on his schedule. Comedy comes from Sony Pictures TV.

Other directors added to the mix are Adam BernsteinAdam Bernstein ("Rescue Me"), who will helmhelm laffer pilot "The Singles Table" for NBC and producer 20th Century Fox TV ; and Breck EisnerBreck Eisner ("Taken""Taken"), who is directing the Fox pilot "Beyond."

Like it or not, Supanova, popular culture is political

Try as it might, Supanova cannot simply ignore the fact that one of its key guests is also one of the instigators of pop cultures' most destructive hate groups, writes Brendan Keogh.

On paper, Adam Baldwin seems like a natural fit for Supanova. His roles in both the film Full Metal Jacket and Joss Whedon's cult classic television series Firefly make him a cult icon. So why would anyone be upset by his upcoming appearances at the Australian pop culture expo?

Baldwin is more than just a cult icon. He also represents one of the most socially divisive movements within the pop culture that Supanova claims to celebrate.

Online protesters have urged Supanova to reconsider Baldwin's attendance given the inflammatory and offensive comments he regularly makes on social media, particularly about women, transgender people and gay people. But when the expo released a statement saying it would be proceeding as planned, it showed it didn't care about creating a safe and inclusive environment for attendees.

Baldwin has made a name for himself on Twitter for his strong views on a range of political topics, adamantly opposing gun control, feminism, abortion, and 'liberals'.

But the real problem is the hateful and discriminatory slander that Baldwin frequently posts. In February 2014, in a series of now-deleted tweets, Baldwin compared gay marriage to incest. Just last week, he made transphobic remarks about Chelsea Manning, deliberately using her old non-preferred name and putting her chosen gender in scare-quotes.

Most significantly for Supanova, in August 2014, Baldwin was widely credited with coining the Twitter hashtag #Gamergate, which became the rallying point for a misogynistic campaign of abuse that continues to target women in the videogame industry.

Baldwin continues to lend the movement his support. For instance, he replies to people critical of Gamergate and adds the hashtag to their tweets. This prompts some of his 207,000 followers and as well as anyone else following the hashtag to pile-on and abuse the original tweeter.

It is these bullying and discriminatory practices that make it worrying that Supanova would consider inviting Baldwin back as a keynote speaker at their Sydney and Perth events this year, having previously had him attend the Melbourne and Gold Coast events in 2013.

Pop culture expos around the globe regularly struggle with issues of sexism. 'Booth babes' (scantily clad promotional models) remain popular at electronics expos, perpetuating the idea that the ideal audience for these products are heterosexual men, and making it difficult for women developers to be taken seriously. Stories of sexual harassment against women attendees have been told from Comic-Con, Penny Arcade Expo, and E3. The same sexism in pop culture that manifests through movements such as Gamergate online is alive and well in the actual world as well.

Supanova, then, is already an event that many fans of pop culture might feel uncomfortable attending. So the fact that one of the country's largest pop culture events - ostensibly a Mecca for comic fans, videogame players, cosplayers, and manga fans - would be willing to invite one of the instigators of pop cultures' most violent and destructive hate groups demonstrates a bewildering ignorance for the concerns of women, transgender people, and gay people interested in pop culture.

Almost 6,000 people on one petition have asked Supanova to revoke Baldwin's invitation and the issue has been a hot topic on Supanova's Facebook page and across Twitter. While many of Baldwin's fans rightfully insist that he shouldn't be removed from an event simply because of his political views, those opposing his participation say they would feel unsafe attending an event that implicitly approves of the bullying and sexism displayed by both Baldwin personally and #Gamergate generally.

Unsurprisingly, those critics were instantly met with the exact kind of sexist abuse they were concerned about, as seen in the recent takeover of the #SupaNoThankYou Twitter hashtag, started as a protest but now swamped with sexist slander and memes.

Supanova said in a statement that it embraces "all our fans, whatever their various pop culture passions may be", and that "inclusiveness is at our very heart". But this is hard to credit.

By inviting a known bully, someone who regularly exploits his large following to punch down and silence his critics, Supanova make their event exclusive, not inclusive. In refusing to uninvite Baldwin, Supanova ensures that videogames, comics, sci-fi, and the various other strands of geek culture remain two-tiered hobbies: welcoming a few with open arms and excluding everyone else.

In its statement, Supanova claimed, "All our stars appear to discuss their work in pop culture, not their personal political or ideological viewpoints." Baldwin himself reiterated this, saying, "I believe that pop culture conventions are inappropriate venues for controversial topics, so I will respectfully not be discussing them at Supanova."

Here, not being political really means keeping the political status quo. The freedom of speech that ensures Baldwin can attend Supanova despite his bullying is ensured, while the freedom of speech that should allow those with concerns to voice them directly is dismissed.

The idea that Baldwin can be welcome for his role as an actor while his role as an instigator of harassment and bullying can be conveniently ignored points to a primary issue that holds back inclusivity in videogames specifically and geek cultures generally: the notion that these pop cultural hobbies are somehow separate from everyday politics rather than its very fabric. But by letting Baldwin attend, Supanova are making an explicitly political statement that they are more interested in maintaining the status quo than making any real attempt to make pop culture expos safer, more inclusive spaces.