Colin Moriarty and Chris Ray Gun of the Sacred Symbols podcast had their PAX West Panel canceled without explanation, according to Moriarty. The panel had been planned to feature a Q&A session regarding their podcast and PlayStation games and both parties had invested in hotel rooms and airfare. Now, the two hosts of the podcast are trying to discover why PAX West suddenly canceled their panel and how they can go about getting refunds for themselves and their fans.
“PAX West rescinded Sacred Symbols’ panel today,” read a tweet from Colin Moriarty announcing the cancelation of the Sacred Symbols podcast panel at PAX West 2019. “So if you were planning to go… sorry. I asked why, and am waiting on a response.”
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The tweet included an image with an e-mail that Mr. Moriarty presents as coming from the team managing the PAX conventions. It reads as follows;
Hello Colin,
Apologies, but we unfortunately have to remove your panel from the PAX West 2019 schedule. We apologize for any confusion and are happy to still issue special guest badges to you and the folks you had designated as speakers, so you will still have access to the show for all four days.
Thanks,
– PAX Team
No explanation for the cancelation was made publicly available at the time of writing. Mr. Moriarty followed up with an email inquiring about the cancelation. He soon supplemented that with a second e-mail focusing on three key points:
- An explanation for the Sacred Symbols podcast panel being canceled.
- How people who bought PAX West 2019 passes specifically to see the Sacred Symbols podcast panel can get refunds.
- How he can get reimbursed for travel-related expenses like hotel bookings, airfare, etc.
While the Sacred Symbols podcast is a joint venture by Colin Moriarty and Chris Ray Gun focusing on PlayStation games, they individually make YouTube videos on a variety of subjects including politics and culture. Both hosts of the podcast have occasionally caused controversy.
Moriarty, in particular, has a long history in the gaming medium. He gained some notoriety working at IGN in the early 2010s, before later working as one of the hosts at Kinda Funny Games. He resigned after causing controversy for tweeting, “Ah. Peace and quiet.#ADayWithoutAWoman” on International Women’s Day, before launching a Patreon and his YouTube show Colin’s Last Stand.
We’ve reached out to PAX and will update this story if we receive a response.