Making Sense of the Blerdcon Fae Theme Controversy
If you’re at all familiar with me and my work, you’ve probably already read my 2021 piece about Blerdcon’s 2021 cosplay contest controversy and why I have shied away from supporting the con. Now, I’m once again writing about it in the interest of cutting through the noise and making sense of the “Blerdcon vs Black Fae Day” controversy that has been dominating conversations in the Black cosplay community. Initially, I held off on writing about it until the dust settled because there was a lot of confusion and the story was still actively developing. There’s also the fact that I wasn’t really sure I wanted or needed to touch the topic of Blerdcon again, but ultimately decided that it’s probably worth writing about since it pertains to a subculture I am (typically) happy to be a part of, for better or worse, so let’s get into it.
The Who
- Black Fae Day/Jasmine La Fleur: For those unfamiliar with Black Fae Day, here’s a brief summary in the words of its founder in an interview with Black Nerd Problems
- “Black Fae Day is a celebration of Black people in fantasy, particularly the fairytale genre. The #28DaysOfBlackCosplay movement along with images of @flowersfromkenji, and the Brandy Cinderella Movie were my main inspirations when I made the initial tweet back on March 10th calling for a day we could all celebrate. The Black Princesscore & Fairycore community along with cosplayers were definitely the firsts to start sharing my tweet.”
- Blerdcon/Hilton George: For those unfamiliar with Blerdcon, it’s a convention that’s supposed to be a celebration of Black nerd culture, although Hilton George has gone on record saying “anyone can be a blerd” and defended the decision to let a white cosplayer represent Blerdcon as their 2021 cosplay contest winner until enough people pointed out how terrible those optics were.
The Controversy
During the closing ceremonies for Blerdcon 2022, one of the con’s founders, Hilton George, revealed the theme for Blerdcon 2023, entitled “Fae’d to Black.” While doing so, he also stated that he and the rest of the Blerdcon team would be “working closely with Black Fae Day” for the event. This wouldn’t be a problem if he were telling the truth, but as it turns out, he wasn’t! There was no formal or informal collaboration plans at that time. Jasmine, who was unable to attend Blerdcon as she was recovering from Covid, was suddenly bombarded with messages of both congratulations and confusion from various people concerning the alleged collaboration. She and Carlos Williams, the Black Fae Day co-founder, go into detail about being blindsided by the announcement in a video interview with Yarn Goddess Cosplay, embedded below.
The Problem
Essentially, the reality of the situation was that Hilton, by his own admission in a livestream on Facebook, had already done the work to hire people to create graphics for the theme and was already moving forward with the “Fae’d to Black” concept without Jasmine’s prior participation or knowledge. At most, he said he planned to spring the non-existent collaboration on her at the same time he made the announcement to everyone else. It should go without saying that this isn’t how professional business deals and collaborations typically work. To be clear, no, Jasmine does not own the exclusive right to make fae, fairy, or fantasy themed events that cater to Black people or other traditionally marginalized groups, nor does she claim to. That’s not the issue. In fact, there’d likely be no issue at all if Hilton and company had simply announced their new theme and kept it moving without bringing Jasmine and Black Fae Day into it at all without her consent.
In other words, the problem stems from the fact that he flat out lied to people at the Blerdcon closing ceremony about her participation in what appears to be an attempt to piggyback off of the platform and popularity she has built with her Black Fae Day brand. Yes, the “Black Fae Day” brand is trademarked, but people are still free to create their own fae themed events under whatever other title or name they choose without issue. With this in mind, many wondered why there was a need for Hilton to blindside the woman who helped popularize the term “Black Fae” by trying to force association?
Why It Matters
Ultimately, it just comes across as underhanded and troubling given Blerdcon’s past history of controversy and willingness to take advantage of the same demographic it claims to cater to. I mean, even the name of the theme “Fae’d to Black” looks like an attempt to capitalize specifically on the brand and movement Jasmine spearheaded since it’s a blatant riff on the term “Black Fae Day.” In the aforementioned Facebook live, Hilton even said he was not particularly familiar with the term “fae” or the Black fantasy and fae community that existed prior to his decision to select the theme for Blerdcon 2023, making things even more puzzling. It’s just not a good look when anyone who wasn’t trying to take advantage of another Black creator would have simply done one of two things:
- Moved forward with the theme and the knowledge that nobody owns fantasy themes – without lying about another person/brand’s imaginary participation
- Reached out professionally with an actual business proposal for collaboration, giving Jasmine and her team a fair chance to accept or reject the offer rather than lying and hoping to strongarm her into a deal
Curious Deletions & Semi-Private Apologies
In the days that followed the initial controversy, several comments criticizing the way Hilton handled the controversy or simply asking for clarity concerning the unprofessional way things were handled were deleted from Blerdcon’s official pages and groups. Jasmine posted screenshots of the informal way Hilton approached her, revealing that he had ample time to send a proper proposal that would allow her to make a choice to work with Blerdcon without feeling pressured, but he chose not to.
Hilton eventually posted an apology in the Blerdcon Facebook group, but the damage was already done as it was both one big lie and several days too late. Despite my personal decision to not support Blerdcon unless it had all new leadership, I still enjoy seeing friends and peers have a good time, and I don’t begrudge anyone who chooses to attend or work with the event in any capacity. What I do take issue with is the way everything was handled. There was no reason to lie, and there was no reason why he couldn’t approach Jasmine privately and professionally if he actually wanted to work with her rather than take advantage of her and what she has built with her work and influence.
The Bottom Line
You can feel how you want to feel on a personal level, but the fact of the matter is that a Black woman was needlessly placed under immense stress because a man who claims to care about “the culture” didn’t feel, for whatever reason, that she was worthy of respect as a fellow entrepreneur and member of the community. At this point, the Blerdcon founder has displayed a clear pattern of toxic opportunism and lack of willingness to respect members of the Black nerd/cosplay community whenever they fail to give him and/or Blerdcon uncritical praise and support. Personally, I don’t feel comfortable putting money in the pockets of someone who is comfortable publicly lying and attempting to take advantage of anyone, no matter what they say their intentions are. Everyone involved is an adult capable of handling things like a reasonable individual, so whatever excuses come up for the days of disrespect and damage control that Jasmine had to endure thanks to one man’s willful and unnecessary lies and carelessness are simply inadequate.
To end things on a positive note, I’d like to ask readers to support Black Fae Day directly! They’re currently raising funds for their 2023 gala, and since both Jasmine and Carlos fund Black Fae Day events out of pocket, any additional funds will help them spread love, positivity, and inclusivity in the fantasy community.
~DeLa Doll
PS – If you’d like to support me and my writing, cosplay, and other artistic nerd stuff I do, please consider subscribing to my Patreon! My goal is to support myself by writing and creating things for others to enjoy <3
DeLa Doll is a culture writer, cosplayer, and artist based in Florida. She has been writing professionally since 2016, with some of her work being featured on sites like HuffPo and /Film. She is an advocate for meaningful diversity and representation in media, a gamer, a mom, and an avid user of DIY hair dye.
