WordPress Leader Mullenweg Silences Joost De Valk

Matt Mullenweg, Ko-Kreatero WordPress, posted a statement on X (earlier Twitter), announcing that Joost de Valk no longer speak at Wordcamp Asia and was Person Non Grata who “stabbed” when he was vulnerable and betrayed his confidence . Mullenweg cited the statements of De Valka to prove his position, but these statements were presented without their full context, which significantly changed their meaning.

Joost de Valk removed from Wordcamp Asia

Joost de Valk, Creator Yoast SEO Appendix, was supposed to speak at Wordcamp Asia on February 21, but was removed from the schedule. He was supposed to talk about WordPress marketing products. Post on X Matt Mullenwega explaining why it was removed suggest that De Valk removed Mullenwega commands.

Screenshot of Joost de Valk’s Wordcamp Asia speaker speaker

Mullenweg: Joost “I” stabbed me when I was down “

Matt Mullenweg posted an explanation why Joost was removed from Wordcamp Asia schedule, and his motivation was to become in front of any “drama” that De Valk aroused, though at the time of writing, Joost remained silent about removal on both XX and his blog.

Mullenweg published::

“Before trying to make more drama about that I wasn’t in Wordcamp Asia, I just wanted to say that I feel me @jdevalk protested me when I was lowered, issued confidence, tried to use the situation for personal influence and influence.

I gave him hundreds of hours of my time and more access than almost anyone in the WP community, including an administrative approach to Google Analytics, a marketing leader position and more. That trust has been issued.

His previous contributions do not “compensate” for such behavior, nor have he apologized or taken any reconciliation action. That regrets me deeply.

Because of this, I will not further communicate with him or participate with anything he does, he is a persona non grant. “

The term person non grant means that the person is undesirable. The use was created in a diplomatic context, but is now used for any situation in which a person is no longer welcome.

Beyond context quotes

Mullenweg has followed another post with quotes by statements published by Joost de Valk da Mullenweg characterized by de Valk is trying to “tie a” WordPress coup.

He Continued::

“Tries to claim that he did not want to wear or cover a coup but wrote:

“I think it’s time to indulge yourself in the leadership of the cult and change of the project.”

“But now it’s clear that we can no longer be our only leader ‘

“I already talk to several hosts about it and I would welcome everyone who wants to join these conversations, so we do not duplicate the job.”

‘I’m here and willing to lead through this transition. I have time, energy and money needed to finance it. “

X is a micro-bogog format that has limited how many contexts mullenweg can publish. It is useful to see these statements in context to fully understand them.

For example, a quote in which Joost mentions the “cult” nature of WordPress leadership of a different meaning when viewed in its full context.

Here’s an external version out of context:

“I think it’s time to indulge yourself in the leadership of the cult and change of the project.”

AND Full version of the passage It lets know that De Valk only suggests the creation of the committee (later describing in detail that it is a matte committee involved in the leading position).

Complete statement:

“In the past months, I have talked to many outside our industry about what is happening, and several people, independent of each other, described WordPress as a” cult. “And I understand why.

I think it’s time to indulge in the leadership of the cult and the change of project. I said that before: we need a ‘board’. “

The Joost later explains that it is not advocated to the removal of Matt from the leadership, but to give voice to all stakeholders, including matts.

Wrote:

“I still, to this day, very grateful for what Matt created. I would love to work with him to fix it all. But now it is clear that we can no longer be our only leader, though I would love it if we could him make to be among the leaders. “

The reality is that the Joost has never advocated changing the lead. From September to December Joost mainly limited his opinion to suggesting There should be more transparency of how much of the trademark licensing fee goes to support WordPress project. Instead of stabbing Mullenwega when he was down and called for a coup, Joost was more cautious and more cautious in his public remarks.

It was only in December that he posted his “Breaking the status quo“The blog blog, where he was openly advocated that Mullenweg was considering a change of management that reflected the voices of more than one stakeholder, and Mullenweg is still in the control position. The Joost had not made a call for a change, others have done it for months. Joost has borrowed his (significant) voice with a movement that has already sought a change in how The WordPress project is managed.

Reply to Post Mullenwega

The answers to his post are muffled because the ability to respond is limited to those he mentions or follows. @arniepalmer replied, explaining that the events look far different from his perspective, pointing out that De Valk was not trying to take WordPress leadership from Mullenwega, but discussing the way of spreading leadership beyond only one person.

He wrote::

“Matt, I see how you can be offended by someone who has an opinion on how things in WordPress can improve and mention that the project leadership needs a change. Especially when you have run a project for so many years. However, in my opinion, @jdevalk dealt By discussing a broader solution, not a fork, not a fork, but only the beginning with you is still a leader – which, in my opinion, is important.

I am sad that the Joost is excluded from @Wcasia2025, because it could have been an opportunity for you and him to talk personally about opportunities. The opportunity to build bridges, and even if no solution is achieved, one can see that those who have different opinions on how this project run in the community moves forward is not done. The criticism of leadership is never a pleasant situation for anyone. I believe that the walk on this is possible, and as tickets (including airplanes and hotels) are already reserved for all interested, booking for meetings is the smallest concern here. “

Joost de Valka is worn and silenced?

Some time ago, I asked someone how the civil war in his country began. His brief explanation was that for decades, citizens, students and trade unions demanded change, but one by one, the government sealed each dialogue Avenue. Instead of gaining control, he built pressure on the turning point, leaving no other way out for changes, which eventually came.

Joost de Valk did not make a statement (or drama) about his expulsion from Wordcamp or his new “Person Non Grata” with Mullenweg. It is unclear what he tried to silence De Valk.

Sepaled picture Shutterstock/Ollyy