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News for Anime Detour 2025:

What's Going On With Anime Detour?

by Red Bard aka Kennedy, YouTuber and Freelance Writer

If I had a nickel for every Midwestern anime con whose non-profit leadership and now-former-convention leadership have been in conflict and recently got lawyers involved, then I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that there's two of them. The first is Ohayocon and the 501(c)(3) that governs it, Cultural Exchange Society Inc. (CESI). The full story is a bit on the longer side, but suffice to say, it began in earnest with a logo dispute. And like a long row of increasingly large dominos falling one after the other, this eventually led to mass resignations and a movement to boycott the con. A number of the con's now-former senior leaders have since risen from the ashes to form Sekai Guild, and are launching a new anime con called Sekaicon, whose inaugural event is currently scheduled to take place April 11-13, 2025 in Newark, OH. Following the incidents that took place in 2023 and 2024, CESI recently filed a lawsuit against Sekai Guild, who soon filed a response. Nerd & Tie's Trae Dorn summarizes here and here. But interesting as that all is, it's not what we're here to learn about today. Rather, that would be the other anime con in question: Minnesota's own Anime Detour (AD), whose parent company is 501(c)(3) non-profit Anime Twin Cities (ATC).

What are Anime Detour and Anime Twin Cities?

With its first event having taken place in 2004, AD is the oldest anime convention in Minnesota that's still in operation (and the second oldest in Minnesota overall behind only Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits, whose last event was in 2010). And with a reported attendance of over 8,100 people, it's almost certainly the largest anime-focused con in the state as well.

ATC was launched just a few years later, in 2006. In the earliest archived "About" section of their own website (2013), they state that their, "purpose is to conduct educational, charitable and social activities related to the promotion and study of Japanese culture, specifically animated movies and television programs ("anime") and graphic novels ("manga") as well as the study of the Japanese language as it is used in anime and manga."

This isn't the first time AD and ATC have found themselves at the center of public discussion. In 2019, longtime staff member and previous con chair Stephen Gifford Jr. was arrested and charged with third degree criminal sex conduct (per Minnesota Court Records Online, he would ultimately be convicted). He was "suspended from all Anime Detour events as well as staff." This story is detailed further on Nerd & Tie and Anime News Network (content warnings for rape and sexual assault). That being said, noteworthy as this is, there's nothing suggesting a direct link between this, and the events currently unfolding.

So what happened in 2024 then? Following a successful event that took place March 29-31, 2024, an internal investigation about then-con chair Troy MacDonald was launched. About two months later, at an ATC meeting that was publicly live streamed, MacDonald and three members of the executive team-which notably included then-board member Kristen Loth-were removed from their positions. MacDonald was also banned from ATC events indefinitely (with a minimum of one year). Possibly in response or otherwise due in some part to this (and I want to emphasize the word "possibly" as it's impossible to verify each individual's circumstances), days before the meeting, AD's staff page listed only two vacancies among 27 positions. But by August, there were now a whopping 20 vacancies among 28 positions. And as for the catalyst that caused all this, well, it depends on who you ask.

Asking around, you'll quickly find that there's plenty of theories and speculation with varying levels of plausibility about what led to this, although there's a handful of recurring story elements (anecdotally, I encountered many versions of the, "ATC wants more power" or "ATC doesn't like MacDonald" theories. To emphasize though: these are speculations, and unverified). Still, even the most plausible sounding theories are exactly that: only theories. And while it might be interesting to explain and further explore some of these theories as more facts come to light, the fact remains that as of now, they can only at best provide a hazy and partial image of what's going on right now. So with hopes of getting a clearer image of what's going on here, I decided to go directly to the sources and hear their side of the story:

The Anime Twin Cities Board's Version of Events

When describing what led to the removal of MacDonald, the ATC board's version of events is simple and straightforward: it was a necessary response to a growing pile of complaints made about him. "Troy was a bully, who thought that he was larger than the convention. A great number of past and present Detour staff, Department Heads, and Vice Chairs didn't want Troy to be the leader of Detour anymore," the ATC board told FanCons.com. The ATC board keeps the specific details of these complaints confidential, but told FanCons.com that they were "numerous," dated as far back as 2019 (and that he was previously spoken to about them in 2022, "and asked to see demonstrated change, which did not occur."), and they made an allegation that, "dozens of staff of all levels-including general staff, Department Heads, and even Vice Chairs, many of whom were appointed by Troy himself-[left] rather than continue to work with him."

The ATC board soon hired an attorney, who conducted an investigation that lasted 45 days. In the aforementioned live streamed meeting, he reveals the following results:

"It is my finding that Mr. MacDonald has on four different counts failed in his responsibilities to the corporation and this board. First, Mr. MacDonald as an executive officer, like all executive officers of this corporation, serves at the pleasure of the board. Minnesota law and this corporation's bylaws make it clear an executive officer can be removed with or without cause by the board. During his most recent interview with my investigator, Mr. MacDonald gave an answer, "I refused to answer on questions related to hostile work environment, workplace harassment and employment retaliation." As an executive officer Mr. MacDonald was required to participate and fully cooperate. He did not do so.

Count 2 are allegations made regarding workplace harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation. My investigator and I found that the allegations made to be credible and that there were many victims of Mr. MacDonald's actions. Furthermore as of last week I was still receiving complaints regarding recent actions of Mr. MacDonald. As such I would indicate that this behavior is not in the past, but is ongoing.

Count 3 is based on an admission made by Mr. MacDonald during his interviews. Mr. MacDonald indicated he was a fiduciary or in control of corporate resources of value like spaces and contracts. Mr. MacDonald indicated to my investigator he did not document his usage of these financial resources. The board must demand of its executives that when they handle financial resources, that they document all their decisions in their decision making.

The last count, members of the board, is that by his own admission there were conflicts related to his control of financial assets at the convention. But Mr. MacDonald admitted he never during or after the conflicts notified those above him, the board, of disputes that occurred with corporate financial resources. In our investigation it appears that there were credible allegations that some individuals were intentionally financially harmed by Mr. MacDonald during the convention period."

Troy MacDonald's Version of Events

MacDonald tells FanCons.com that while he's been an attendee for longer, he's been staffing at AD since 2013 (as the con was preparing for the 2014 event). He became its chairman as quickly as 2018 (working toward the 2019 event).

MacDonald shared that he felt blindsided by the investigation and his subsequently being removed from his position, and told FanCons.com that he still isn't sure why this happened or what caused it. He claims that no issues were brought to his attention in an official capacity prior to his removal. Also of note, MacDonald alleges hearing as soon as the Sunday night of the 2024 convention that ATC board president Christina Kramer had been sending out emails to department head's personal emails, asking them to review him. MacDonald had no idea what he could've done to warrant this, and soon found himself suspended-and ultimately removed-for reasons he could only guess.

A few weeks later, he recalls getting a call from a private investigator who was hired by an attorney, who asked him questions that MacDonald describes as "vague" and "hard to track." "I wasn't told what was being investigated," he told FanCons.com, "There was a few topics that I was asked questions on-I was never once asked questions about any sort of monies. I don't know what they were looking for-I have no answers." He'd further clarify that while he doesn't remember if there were any general questions about finances, he wasn't asked about any specific transactions.

When asked what he was asked about, MacDonald mentioned banned individuals (including ones who were banned by the ATC board), and "historical events." His attorney clarified that the private investigator "explicitly told" he and his client that he wasn't familiar with ATC or AD. He was given a list of questions, and that more or less seemed to be it. So if MacDonald would ask for further detail, the investigator couldn't offer substantial answers. All the same, the attorney told MacDonald "to answer all the questions that were asked." Following this investigation, MacDonald recalls there being a second question and answer period, followed by silence, and then finally the fateful meeting.

Loth feels similarly in the dark about her own removal. Similarly to MacDonald, she claims she was caught completely off-guard by these whirlwind events happening fresh off the heel of a successful year for AD, and ATC didn't make it clear to her what she had supposedly done wrong. The reason given in the meeting where she was ultimately removed was, "sharing confidential information with unauthorized individuals" (it's never specified further than this) but she's unsure what, specifically, it's in reference to-what information she allegedly shared, and to whom she allegedly shared it with.

What Happens Now?

So to recap: in a nutshell, the ATC board alleges that this was all predicated by what could diplomatically be described as a track record of unprofessional behavior by MacDonald. Specific details of what that means, however, haven't been forthcoming. Meanwhile, MacDonald alleges that he has no idea what ATC is taking issue with because they haven't told him, and that the investigation was shallow and flimsy.

Publicly available social media posts, including (but not limited to) a thread on the matter on r/animecons, suggest that there's a significant degree of backlash against ATC amongst a number of members of AD's community-many of whom seemingly either support MacDonald, dislike ATC, and/or don't like the way the ATC went about this. Furthermore, in the time since this, there's been a lot of discourse amongst AD's community over the legality of what happened-especially with regards to whether or not ATC broke their own bylaws by doing all of this. Not being a lawyer, however, I'm not well-equipped to discuss this at length. That being said, when we spoke, the ATC board told FanCons.com that they didn't have plans of pursuing legal action relating to this incident. However, MacDonald, Loth, and a number of other involved parties have retained lawyers and intend on pursuing legal action. And on Monday, March 24, 2025, they filed a lawsuit against ATC alleging wrongful denial of access to records, violations of the Minnesota Nonprofit Corporations Act, and defamation. Among the counts listed are unlawful organization of bylaws committee, Loth's unlawful suspension and discipline, MacDonald's investigation, suspension, removal, and termination of membership, improperly held elections and annual meeting, false report to police, and censorship of public ATC Board meetings, deletion of ATC records, and abuse of access rights.

The latter two allegations come from after the meeting wrapped up. For starters, the false police report: the lawsuit alleges that the ATC board suspected that the public backlash against them had been "either directly or indirectly" conducted by MacDonald. Of note: the plaintiffs-which include him-allege having done no such thing. The allegation continues that "one or more of the Defendants anonymously called the Eagan Police Department and requested a wellness check (also known as welfare check) on MacDonald…Defendants' request for a wellness check was only pretense, the call to the Eagan Police Department was made for the purpose of intimidating or harassing MacDonald, in an attempt to silence the social media posts upsetting the Defendants, which they erroneously attribute to him."

Worth noting about this ostensible wellness check is that MacDonald had been residing with his elderly parents at the time, and it's claimed that the police specifically asked to speak to his parents. This all happened during the morning-when MacDonald, as is alleged all the defendants know, is often asleep.

And then, there's censorship of public ATC Board meetings, deletion of ATC records, and abuse of access rights. To summarize: it's alleged that ATC board member and AD head of technology services, Bruce Levine, "selectively muted participants, including ATC members, in multiple regular ATC board meetings," "permanently deleted member comments from recordings of ATC board meetings," and "continued to delete comments from recordings of ATC board meetings after ATC board received an April 18, 2024, preservation notice from [Loth], by way of her counsel."

Loth shared a small number of recordings of ATC board meetings with the YouTube live chat feed visible with FanCons.com. However, in large part due to recording quality, FanCons.com hasn't been able to verify the extent to which comments have been removed as alleged in these uploads. To be clear: this only applies to comments in the live chat on YouTube; not, say, comments left later in the main comment section, or comments on other platforms.

That comments have been deleted from relevant posts is an allegation that was also notably made by Twin Cities Game Fest in June 2024, when they posted the following: "Hey folks. So on the Anime Twin Cities and Anime Detour pages, people have been asking valid questions about actions taken by the board. Comments on their YouTube channel have been deleted and or/altered. They are outright censoring people who are asking for clarification, and wanting the truth for what is actually happening. I am working to utilize my Twin Cities Game Fest Facebook page and Discord servers to help facilitate discussion so people can actually really find out what is happening without their voice being silenced."

Is There a Boycott?

As of time of writing, there's no formal movement to boycott the convention. In fact, Loth and MacDonald told FanCons.com that they had no plans of encouraging a boycott, as despite everything that's happened to them, they both still have a great love for Anime Detour. Loth, in particular, told FanCons.com that while she'd love to go, she doubted she'd be allowed to. In her words, this belief is "based off of the way people have treated me on social media, from the people who are now running the event. I haven't been told that I can't, but I would assume that they wouldn't want me to be there, so I'm not attempting." When asked to elaborate on the way she's been treated on social media, Loth alleged that following the incident, she's been blocked and/or unfriended by several people who remained on staff. Furthermore, she received a cease and desist from an attorney representing ATC. Loth, however, isn't sure what it's in reference to.

"I haven't been saying anything on social media because I'm not trying to make things worse, I'm not trying to inflame the situation. Even with not doing so-and I've gone back through my social media to review multiple times, to see if there's anything that can even be misconstrued as talking about them-and I still received a cease and desist [from an attorney representing ATC] basically of them accusing me of doing bad things on social media to them that I have not done," she told FanCons.com, whom she and her lawyer shared the cease and desist letter with. She would further clarify, "They also didn't tell me what I said, supposedly. They just said that I was doing it. But not what it was. So again: even if I had been doing something, I don't know what am I supposed to stop? Because I haven't been informed of what I've done." Noticeably, this allegation greatly resembles the wellness check mentioned in the lawsuit filing. When asked about the cease and desist (which was later than our previous correspondence, and after the lawsuit had been filed), ATC responded: "As we are currently embroiled in a legal situation we cannot further comment on these matters at this time."

Anime Detour 2025 is scheduled to happen March 28-30 at the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency Hotel. Prior to the filing of the lawsuit, the ATC Board told FanCons.com that they believe the backlash will "absolutely not" have an effect on Anime Detour 2025's attendance.