WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg has banned Joost de Valk from attending WordCamp Asia 2025, publicly branding him “persona non grata” in a fiery social media post. The decision follows a tense private exchange between the pair, where de Valk invited Mullenweg to dinner—only to have the invitation met with accusations of betrayal and a total severing of ties.
In private messages exchanged last Tuesday on WordPress Slack, viewed by The Repository, de Valk invited Mullenweg to dinner in Manila, where the pair were set to attend WordCamp Asia next week. However, the following day, Mullenweg rejected de Valk’s invitation, telling him, “You stabbed me while I was down” and “I can’t imagine a bigger betrayal.”
Mullenweg told de Valk that his WordCamp Asia ticket would be rescinded, his access to WordPress.org wrapped up, and his WordPress Slack access revoked. He also asked de Valk not to attend future WordCamps. Shortly after, Mullenweg took to X to amplify his condemnation in a public post.
“I have given him hundreds of hours of my time and more access than almost anyone in the WP community, including admin access on Google Analytics, a marketing leadership position, and more. This trust was betrayed,” Mullenweg wrote, referring to de Valk’s former role as WordPress’s Marketing Lead.
“His previous contributions do not ‘make up’ for this behavior, nor has he apologized or taken any conciliatory action. This deeply saddens me. Because of this, I will not interact with him any further or participate with anything he’s involved with, he’s persona non grata.”
Mullenweg also challenged de Valk’s repeated assertions that he has no plans to fork WordPress, highlighting key phrases—albeit out of context—from an announcement de Valk published on December 20, 2025, calling for an end to Mullenweg’s role as WordPress’ Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL).
The WordCamp Asia ban is the latest in a series of actions Mullenweg has taken against de Valk since December.
In January, Mullenweg published a post on WordPress.org, claiming that de Valk and Crowd Favorite CEO Karim Marucchi were forking WordPress. In the post, laced with sarcasm, he dismissed their experience and contributions, mockingly referring to their supposed fork as “JKPress.” Mullenweg announced that he was deactivating both of their WordPress.org accounts “to make this easy and hopefully give this project the push it needs to get off the ground.”
de Valk, who founded the popular Yoast SEO plugin, had been scheduled to speak at WordCamp Asia on the topic “Launching or Finding a WordPress Product in 2025.” He was also tentatively slated to participate in a panel discussion on managing WordPress.
Progress Planner, a product launched by de Valk’s investment firm, Emilia Capital, last year, has also been banned from sponsoring both WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe.
Speaking to The Repository, de Valk called the decision to ban him “sad” but acknowledged that his push for WordPress governance reform was always “going to go wrong.” de Valk also exchanged messages with Mullenweg the day after his December post and the conversation, also viewed by The Repository, was civil. Mullenweg made no mention of feeling upset or betrayed by de Valk’s actions.
“I’ve been trying to keep the conversation open because, honestly, what I want to do is figure out what’s best for the community… I think that [Mullenweg] should not be the sole leader,” de Valk said.
“I’ve been contributing to WordPress for about 20 years now. I just want what’s good for the community, and I think what’s good for the community is if we get governance and start taking things a bit more seriously.
“I also foresee significant challenges. With WordPress governance in its current state, navigating new European regulations will be very difficult.”
Following Mullenweg’s messages last Friday, de Valk said Executive Director Mary Hubbard informed him that it would be best if he did not attend WordCamp Asia in the interest of community cohesion. Hubbard confirmed de Valk’s account, telling The Repository:
“This decision was made with careful consideration and is rooted in maintaining trust and cohesion within the WordPress community—both of which are critical to the project’s health.
“WordPress has always welcomed healthy debate, differing perspectives, and constructive criticism. However, Joost has indicated that he is working to separate the community rather than engage within it. When actions actively undermine community cohesion, it is appropriate to reassess participation in official events.
“This decision was communicated directly to Joost, and the necessary steps have already been taken, including a ticket refund, session removal, and sponsorship refund processing.”
de Valk and his wife and business partner, Marieke van de Rakt, recently made headlines when they acquired Post Status, a popular business community for WordPress professionals, and converted it into a Dutch nonprofit. In March 2024, their investment firm, Emilia Capital, became an investor in Automattic.
Feature image credit: Fede Padilla.
