FanExpo responds to allegations of abuse, ableism and pickpocketing at recent Comicon festival in Toronto

FanExpo is responding to allegations of pickpocketing and ableism following its Toronto Comicon event at the Metro Convention Centre this past weekend.

After the convention, FanExpo Canada shared a post on Instagram which thanked its many fans for a successful weekend and encouraged them to purchase tickets for the next Toronto comicon in August. 

However, the post has been overrun by angry comments from users claiming they experienced abusive treatment from staff, issues with accessibility and numerous instances of pickpocketing while in attendance.

“Your staff was incredibly ableist and are addicted to yelling at con goers especially people who are sitting. The only times I enjoyed this con was when I was not in the centre itself but outside

Please do better,” one person wrote.

“The behaviour of your staff towards so many con goers was actually gross, people in distress after being pickpocketed were being laughed at and mocked,” another user commented.

“I’m so incredibly frustrated. Took my friends to their first #TorontoComicon2024 and one of them had their phone stolen in Artist Alley. Hours later I’m hearing that the same has happened to many people ik. I’m so upset and sad at how my community was treated this weekend,” one X user said. 

Now Toronto reached out to Fan Expo regarding the allegations and the company stood firm in its commitment to providing safe, inclusive and accessible spaces for guests.

“At FAN EXPO HQ, inclusivity and accessibility is of utmost importance to our shows and is the case for all our shows across North America. We have a clear and comprehensive accessibility policy, the accessibility desk was clearly labelled and open during the entirety of the show for any of our patrons who needed extra assistance. In terms of issues of allegations of theft, we did learn about a few unfortunate instances that occurred on Saturday and we acted quickly to increase security presence. Fortunately, some phones were just misplaced in the show and more than two thirds of what was officially reported missing have been returned to their owners. This was not a widespread issue and the rest of the event continued on Sunday without any reports of additional incidents,” a spokesperson said in an email statement.

“FAN EXPO HQ has a zero tolerance for abusive behavior and we would encourage anyone with a formal complaint to contact us directly. We remain committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for our patrons,” the company concluded.

If people wish to file an incident report relating to Fan Expo, they can do so here.