In a statement shared to social media, convention organizer ReedPop seemingly responded to criticism of the company’s relationship with ICE (the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency), declaring it “do[es] not sell customer information to [them],” and that it “operates entirely at arm’s length and independently. None of our data is shared for marketing or commercial use by any other entity within our parent company [RELX].”
The full statement reads:
We hear you and want to correct some false information that has been circulating on social media.
We at ReedPop do not sell customer information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ReedPop/RX [Reed Exhibitions] operates entirely at arm’s length and independently. None of our data is shared for marketing or commercial use by any other entity within our parent company.
We remain committed to creating safe, inclusive, and welcoming environments. Our community is made up of people from different backgrounds and identities. We stand by our principles of inclusion and belonging. We see you, we hear you, and all are welcome here.
If you want more information on how we collect, use, and protect personal data, please see the RX/ReedPop Privacy Policy at privacy.rxglobal.com.
It should be noted criticism of ReedPop’s parent company was not aimed at ReedPop, but its sister company LexisNexis, which has provided data tools to ICE since at least 2019. Scrutiny of RELX and its subsidiaries intensified over the past month, after ICE commenced Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, and killed two citizens, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, respectively on January 7, and January 24. LexisNexis previously defeated a lawsuit alleging it helped ICE target immigrants in 2023.
ReedPop organizes multiple conventions in the US, UK, and Australia, including New York Comic Con, C2E2, Emerald City Comic Con, BookCon, PAX, MagicCon, EGX, and MCM Comic Con London. (It also owns the pop culture site Popverse.) Among the conventions it is contracted to run is Star Wars Celebration, the next edition of which will be held in 2027. This has prompted a petition from Action Boycott, asking Lucasfilm to divest from ReedPop: at the time of writing, it has garnered over 1200 signatures.
In additional ICE-related news from the world of comics fandom, The San Francisco Chronicle reported a protestor dressed as Batman addressed a joint meeting between the Santa Clara City Council and Stadium Authority on Tuesday, criticizing them for collaborating with ICE. The city is set to host the Super Bowl LX with ICE’s involvement on February 8, and the man accused the council of cowardice, before stating, “If you do not act, you’re not just cowards. You are traitors.” (Some observers identified the man as being “the Batman of San José,” an anonymous advocate for the city’s homeless.)
Furthermore, CBS News reports Minneapolis’s DreamHaven Books and Comics has received a spike in sales after its founder, Greg Ketter, went viral for protesting ICE. Ketter, who won a Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award in 1999, was filmed and photographed being hit with tear gas shortly after Pretti’s killing, while yelling, “I’m 70 years old, and I’m fucking angry!”
A GoFundMe established after DreamHaven was hit during the 2020 protests after George Floyd‘s murder received a surge in donations as well, which Ketter has said will be forwarded to food shelters and others in need.
