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Disastrous Baltimore Book Festival Sparks Brutal 'Willy Wonka Experience' And 'Fyre Fest' Comparisons
The theme played on the concept of a reader living a million lives through books and was called "A Million Lives Book Festival," but after the so-called event, indie authors have taken to calling it "A Million Lies," and for good reason.
The event took place in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of a weekend for fantasy and romance authors to sign and sell their books. The festival was in the works for over a year and a half, and the star of the weekend was supposed to be a black-tie ball, with formal attire required.
Despite that alleged year and a half of planning, people soon suspected it was thrown together in 45 minutes.
The large convention hall was empty except for a series of long, uncovered tables. The concrete floor was bare. No decorations were hung, save for a single row of fake rose petals that were placed in a row along the length of one table.
Here's one example from indie author Amber Bunch entering the event:
The security guard for the room also felt so bad for the attendees that he ran home and brought his own Bluetooth speaker, meant to be used in the shower, because there was no DJ.
Here's a video of BookToker Brandi catching the speaker on camera, which the BookTok community has since named "Steve" because of the background music "You, Me, and Steve" by Garfunkel and Oates.
Because of the event's quality and turnout, indie authors began to issue apology videos to their readers.
Though the situation was not their fault, indie authors still felt terrible for readers who potentially shelled out money for the $23 entry fee, travel, and hotel to attend the event.
Indie author Kalista Neith found this to be especially unacceptable in today's economy.
But it soon started to dawn on all of the indie authors that there was no way they were going to make their money back.
While readers had to pay to participate, indie authors and vendors also spent thousands of dollars on set up, supplies, travel and lodging.
Because fewer than fifty people were in attendance, and most of them were authors, no one was able to "table," meaning to break even on just the cost of their author signing space.
TikToker @chloyorkcity collected many authors' information so people could show support.
Onlookers who followed online were flabbergasted.
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
@chloyorkcity/TikTok
Due to the backlash, Grace Willows issued what many considered a non-apology.
Willows promised that anyone who requested a refund would receive one, and she was empathetic to anyone who was disappointed.
She then went on to excuse the event, stating that all of the signage, decorations, and swag bags had disappeared and likely been stolen. There was even a separate room next to the ballroom that she had called the "Content Creation Room" that was completely empty, but which she claimed was supposed to be decked out with props for the guests to use.
But indie author Lara Buckheit did a little digging and did not believe Willows' explanation.
Buckheit contacted the convention center directly to ask about Willows' claims the items were stolen, and according to the coordinator, that was almost impossible. It's common practice for the event organizer, who was Willows in this scenario, to contact the convention center to file a report, and the fact that no report had been filed was sketchy, at best.
The utter lack of decorations, signage, music, food, water, as well as the bare concrete floor, which caused issues for attendees with disabilities, showed an obvious lack of preparation or care.
Even an attendance roster showing authors and where their tables were, or a schedule of panels and events, were nowhere to be found.
Willows planned on hosting two more of these events, one in October and one in 2026, but has suspended them for the time being while refunds are being sorted out. Hopefully she will keep to her word about refunds, and if she really does decide to host further events, then she had better be taking notes from this one.
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Piers Morgan Rips Ye For Storming Out Of Interview Over Misstated Number Of X Followers
You can see the video here:
- YouTube youtu.be
In addition to the title chosen for the video, Morgan also took to X to call out Ye's behavior during the brief interview. He included a screen shot of Ye.
Morgan wrote:
"So, I interviewed Kanye West again today. As I expected, given what I’ve said about him recently, it didn’t last long or go well. This was him right before he stomped off like a big baby. Drops on [Piers Morgan Uncensored] later…"
The video showed less of an interview and more of Ye ranting while Morgan tried to figure out what he was on about.
At one point, Morgan actually asked:
"What are you talking about? I haven’t said anything?"
The tipping point for Ye seemed to be when Morgan referred to Ye's X follower count as 32 million instead of 33.
Before Morgan could finish the question, Ye interjected:
"See wait, wait. Now, look now. Look, look at, look right now, you're not going to take–you're not going to take inches off my dick, bro."
"Like how many followers do I have?"
When Morgan asked:
"Well, how many is it?"
Ye responded:
"I think you could do the study. You got a whole staff over there."
Morgan replied:
"I thought it was 32 million. How many is it? You obviously know."
Ye said:
"I mean, no. I mean don't–don't help them out. You know, they, uh..."
Morgan then corrected himself, saying:
"I'm told it's 33 million now. So congratulations. Your slightly bigger following than I thought."
Ye responded:
"No, congratulations, your information is correct. You're not just some dude, you know, trying to sub. You know, I'm–I'm a gift bro. You know what I mean?"
"Why–why do all you people in media act like you haven't played my songs at your weddings or graduations or at funerals or when your child was born?"
"You know, you take somebody that's living like a [John] Lennon, a Michael Jackson and you just take all this time to just like that nuance right there. It's idiotic."
"It just shows the hate that you put out for people that put love. There's so much love in the art that I put out."
At this point, Morgan interrupted to say:
"With all due respect, what are you talking about? I haven’t said anything?"
Ye replied:
"What are you talking about? It's 30—OK, now you're not taking accountability or responsibility. And you know what, we'll rewind. I need a–I need a–no sir, this is what you get for now we can, we can circle back when you can count."
He then took out his earpiece and stormed off, leaving Sneako sitting there.
Ye's companion made light of his behavior, calling it funny, but Morgan—whose production team spent several days indulging Ye's whims and failure to show up at a previously scheduled time—was unamused.
He told Sneako:
"Tell him from me he’s a sniveling, little coward, and he’s an antisemite and a Hitler worshipper. That’s what I would have asked him if he’d had the balls to sit there and take the questions."
Both Morgan and Ye are polarizing figures, but people seemed to side with Morgan on this one.
r/Music/Reddit
r/Music/Reddit
r/Music/Reddit
r/Music/Reddit
r/Music/Reddit
r/Music/Reddit
As Morgan stated in the intro, his last interview with Ye lasted two hours while this interaction was probably three minutes, tops.
It's unclear how long this one was supposed to last or if Morgan ever plans to go back down this road again.
