Yahoo! Entertainment reports that TanaCon organizer, Michael Weist, filed for bankruptcy after his company, Good Times Entertainment organized the failed social media convention.
What Is TanaCon?
Entrepreneur Michael Weist took on the last-minute social media convention, TanaCon, a convention hosted by popular YouTuber Tana Mongeau. Mongeau created TanaCon after the popular social media convention VidCon refused to give Mongeau a “featured creator” pass, denying her personal security to protect her from mobs of fans. Upset with how VidCon treated her, Mongeau intentionally hosted TanaCon a few minutes away from VidCon on the same weekend. Mongeau marketed her event as completely free, with additional VIP tickets convention-goers could buy as well.
Resembling the infamous Fyre Festival, TanaCon was not what it seemed and left many people angry and demanding a refund. The convention was overbooked and many convention-goers who got tickets were unable to get into the venue, standing outside in the hot sun for hours.
When looking further into the mess of a convention, fans wondered if it was Weist’s fault, Mongeau’s fault, or a combination of both their faults. Both Weist and Mongeau completely blame each other and have continued to since the event occurred.
TanaCon Aftermath
After TanaCon, both Mongeau & Weist received plenty of backlash. The failed convention was heavily reported on by the YouTube community. There were even rumors of a class-action lawsuit against Weist & his company, Good Times Entertainment. Since then, Mongeau has been able to bounce back on YouTube unlike Weist, who had his reputation completely ruined and was forced to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Recently, Weist appeared on Dr. Phil to clear his name. A few of Weist’s former employees spoke on the show in an effort to support Mongeau. They said that Weist had been a terrible boss and TanaCon had been a mess since the beginning, citing it as Weist’s fault.
In addition to all the other accusations, Weist’s former assistant has now accused him of pocketing $35,000 in funds meant for a business venture and then filing for bankruptcy before paying him back.