Anime Expo apologizes for GOH ticket ‘inconvenience,’ works ‘to improve’

Earlier this week, Anime Expo 2025 attendees started voicing complaints on social media that they had received official AX emails, which stated that holding more than one Guest of Honor signing event ticket—regardless of whether the tickets are for different events—constitutes a breach of the Los Angeles-based convention’s Autograph Policy. In response to these attendee complaints (and according to one fan, Comics Beat writer Merve Girary‘s reporting on the GOH ticket confusion), at 8:00 PM PST on June 23, 2025, Anime Expo officially apologized (via X (formerly known as Twitter) to those affected by the inconvenience, adding that the convention would be reaching out to those fans directly to improve their experience.

“Regarding The Guest of Honor Autograph Process: We apologize for the inconvenience some attendees experienced during the Guest of Honor Autograph reservation process,” tweeted the official AX account. “The affected individuals have been contacted directly, and we appreciate your understanding as we work to improve the experience moving forward. Thank you for your continued support.”

In response to AX’s apology and course correction, an attendee impacted by the GOH ticket confusion shared the email they had received from the convention’s Head of Entertainment Deanna Nakamura-Valencia, noting that it was still confusing which policy AX would be following: “The one you established in April that everyone followed or the one you added in early June without alerting anyone?”

Nakamura-Valencia’s email to (some) impacted attendees reads:

As part of our ongoing efforts to prevent fraud and scalping, some guest autograph tickets were proactively canceled during our review process. We understand this may have caused inconvenience, and we sincerely apologize for the disruption.

We’re pleased to let you know that your original autograph tickets) will be reinstated to your account by Thursday, June 26, 2025, provided the order complies with our policy guidelines. No action is required on your part at this time—we’ll follow up shortly with confirmation and any additional details before Thursday.

Your feedback helps us improve the fan experience for everyone. As a token of our appreciation, please present this email with a valid government-issued identification at the West Lobby Merchandise Booth during the show to redeem one (1) AX 2025 Playmat. (Please note: Redemption must occur during Anime Expo 2025.)

It’s important to note that not everyone who was impacted has been contacted yet, according to several comments on AX’s apology. “Appreciate Anime Expo addressing this, but I still have a couple of questions,” tweeted X user @KuraunHazuki. “I didn’t receive and email, but had to cancel all my autographs but one and didn’t receive a compensation email.”

Additional problems with the GOH reservation process at Anime Expo

Additionally, AX attendees pointed out that there were additional problems with the GOH ticket reservation process. “I was affected by the links not working for the reservation process,” tweeted X user @ATrailUnending. “Is this in regards to the links not working? How will people be reached out to?”

Meanwhile, another X user, @DxRias, asked if the change would impact “those that couldn’t get reservations cuz the links weren’t working properly initially?”

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