Earlier this week we reported on the turmoil at Walker Stalker LLC, the embattled group of pop culture events that runs the Walker Stalker and FanFest events. Just a few days ago, it was announced that Michael DeVault would be stepping in as interim CEO to replace embattled showrunner James Frazier, who owns the brand.
Well, after a single week at the top, DeVault has stepped down from the role.
“Dear friends,” he wrote on his personal Facebook page.“Effective at 6:21 p.m. tonight, I resigned as interim CEO of Walker Stalker Convention LLC and all the subsidiary properties. I will be taking a few days off from social media and will be not accepting phone calls or texts. If you need me, you may leave me a message or send me an email.”
“I have no further comment at this time,” he wrote me tonight after the resignation.
According to the report by Rodney Ho at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Frazier was also left commentless by the resignation, stating he needed more time to react.
It’s just the latest sign of chaos at a floundering brand.
On Monday Khary Paytion, who plays Ezekiel on The Walking Dead, tweeted that he and other stars, including Norman Reedus and Danai Guerira, would no longer be appearing at Walker Stalker. The show is widely rumored to have had trouble paying multiple celebrities who have been appearing at events, part of the reason for the severing of ties.
DeVault had seemed to step into the role of Walker Stalker CEO with relish, taking part in an “ask me anything” video and answering question on the Facebook page.
Sadly, I had set aside time later in the week to watch the AMA – but now will never get the chance as its been scrubbed from FB, along with every other mention of DeVault.
While we don’t know what specifically spooked DeVault, it was not his first con rodeo – rather significantly, he was involved with Galacticon, a somewhat notorious Battlestar Galactica-themed show that disappointed fans with many last minute star no-shows, as reported at the time.
DeVault has been pushing back against those criticisms on his rather candid twitter page, pointing out that Richard Hack did attend, but not mentioning whether other cancelled guests showed up.
At any rate, this whole fiasco shows no sign of calming down any time soon. WE’ll update the situation with new development.
If you have any inside information or insights about all of this, feel free to contact the Beat.
