The Munchausen Society

Greetings all,

As many of you are aware, there have been disheartening revelations that have emerged in the JME community, whose conventions frequently host our performances, and for whom we have been scheduled to perform next weekend. What have emerged are reports from volunteers that they are taken advantage of, reports of failures to provide a safe environment by failing to take assault reports seriously, and allegations of sexual assault and harassment made against the founder and owner. We at the Munchausen Society take these issues seriously as they go against our core values as an organization.

After much deliberation and contract scrutiny, we have decided that we will fulfill our final agreement with JME and will be performing at Wicked Faire this one last time. After that, we will disassociate from JME.

I know that this decision will hurt and upset many, and many more are upset by what is occurring within the community. We ask that as we process our own pain over this, we all keep in mind the pain of those who have been the direct targets of the abuses.

And to those who have been hurt, we at the Munchausen Society just want to say, "We see you and we believe you."

To each person who reads this message, be it performer, vendor, or patron, we leave it up to you to figure out how you will proceed over the next week. Please remember that for Vendors and Performers, contracts have been signed and they like us, have obligations to fulfill. Some are choosing to break their contracts, and we praise their courage and urge JME to not pursue them but accept those losses as their penance. For those that fulfill their contracts, I ask everyone else to understand the pressures behind the decision as many performers and vendors are burdened by financial and legal pressures. For the patrons, we do know that many of you have paid for your non-refundable event tickets, hotel deposits, and, for many, plane tickets, and that itself makes the choice to attend or not attend very difficult.  If you decide not to attend, please keep in mind that vendors and performers have online stores and patreons you can use to give them support.

After this event, we will have to start exploring for new venues for our charity performances. Please check our pages for the new shows as we find them. We hope that we will get to see you all again.

Sincerely,
The Munchausen Society