Culture

TanaCon Attendees Considering Class-Action Lawsuit 

Fyre Festival lives on in TanaCon.

YouTube / Mitchell Wiggs

Severe sunburn, dehydration, and broken promises — all fodder for a potential class-action lawsuit against the disastrous YouTube convention TanaCon that took place in Anaheim on June 23. The convention, started as a sort of anti-VidCon by Tana Mongeau, descended into chaos after nearly 5,000 people that were sold tickets attempted to cram into a venue made to hold approximately 1,000 people. The multi-day convention was canceled after only a few hours due to safety concerns.

The event was quickly dubbed 2018’s Fyre Festival, and now, the number of similarities between the two events is increasing with talks of a class action lawsuit. YouTuber Anamarie Olson is attempting to launch a class action lawsuit against Good Times, the production company run by Michael Weist that was responsible for TanaCon and that became the focus of the now-viral Shane Dawson “documentary” on the event.

According to The Blast, Olson is asking for complete refunds as well as additional compensation for “mistreatment during the event.” Olson says that at least 200 people have expressed interest in joining the suit and that she is in talks with a law firm.

In a press release, Good Times has promised refunds within 30 business days of submitting a claim.

On social media, other users are also openly discussing the possibility of a class action suit. In r/TanaCon, Usernameusername97 said they were considering consulting with a lawyer because of financial difficulties that coincided with their trip to the convention: “So I really don’t want to have to file a lawsuit but my mom had emergency surgery on her hip the same week of TanaCon… They helped me out and put their money into my trip to California and now I feel so awful.”

On Twitter, some users are searching for organizers of a class action.

At least three class action lawsuits have been brought against the organizers of Fyre Festival. Its organizer, Billy McFarland, was recently convicted of fraud and ordered to pay $5 million in damages in another Fyre Festival lawsuit.

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