Supanova expo under fire after vendor sells far-right merchandise in Sydney
Australian pop culture expo Supanova has apologised to fans after photos emerged of a vendor selling T-shirts at its Sydney expo with the swastika and other paraphernalia associated with far-right groups.
Supanova is an expo that tours the country with stalls and shows covering comic books, films, board games, video games, movies and TV shows. Fans often turn up in cosplay outfits and celebrities give talks, pose for photos and give autographs to fans who have paid for the privilege.
On Saturday, the first day of the expo at Olympic Park, photos were posted online of a vendor selling “Pink Fascism Out of Oz” T-shirts with a hand giving the middle finger and a Nazi symbol on the nail. It was an apparent reference to the conspiracy theory that homosexual men were prominent within the Nazis during the second world war.
There were other far-right T-shirts on display too with one stating “Christian, Australian, Heterosexual, Pro Gun, Conservative, Any Questions?”. There was a Rising Sun flag and another flag depicting an Australian-style superhero modelled after Ned Kelly fighting “zombie nazis”.
The booth in question has been featured at Supanova expos in previous years although Guardian Australia is not aware of what the vendor displayed in those years.
Several users took to Supanova’s social media accounts over the weekend to complain about the stall and on Sunday the expo said the exhibitor had been removed and a “massive apology” was owed to fans.
“This kind of behaviour is unacceptable, and we appreciate the detailed information provided by attendees,” the company posted on Facebook.
However, it took until Thursday for the organisers to respond to questions on why the stall was not vetted in the first place. They said on Twitter and Facebook the stall was “a significant deviation from what we stand for” and while the offending shirts were removed before opening on Saturday, and the vendor was ultimately ejected on Sunday, that response was too slow.
Supanova said the vendor had been banned from all future events. Stalls were not permitted if they had any materials that “offend, disparage, or vilify any person on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexuality or disability”, the expo said.
Gaming news site Kotaku has reported a number of regular speakers at Supanova have said they will no longer attend the expo. Rebecca Borkman, a cosplayer and MC at Supanova, tweeted this week she would no longer work for Supanova.
“Unfortunately it has become clear to me that my ideals do not align with the views and actions demonstrated by higher management,” Borkman said. “As a result, I have informed the Supanova team that I will not be working with them moving forward.”
Comments on the post have questioned why it took so long for the organisers to act, and have called for Supanova’s founder, Daniel Zachariou, to stand down.
Zachariou apologised in 2016 after it was discovered he had signed a petition to “stop transgender education” and shut down the Safe Schools program. He said at the time he was hoping to “express some concerns about the nuances of the Safe Schools initiative” but did not “intend to express transphobic or homophobic views”.
There is no suggestion that Zachariou was aware of or involved with the offensive material on display at the current Supanova expo. Guardian Australia has sought comment from Supanova and Zachariou through Supanova.
The next expo, which was to be held in Perth on 26 and 27 June, has been cancelled as a result of Western Australia shutting the border to New South Wales after the latest Covid outbreak in the state.