15 JANUARY 29-FEBRUARY 4, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | FIND MORE MUSIC COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/MUSIC Cleaning House INSIDE THE DISASTROUS YEAR THAT DESTROYED THIS CAPITOL HILL CLUB. BY EMILY FERGUSON Jillian Johnson “is almost like Donald Trump,” says Yasmine Holtz, an event promoter known as Jhazzy Wolf. “Once you speak bad about her, she’s going to come for you.” In December 2024, Johnson bought Pearl Stop LLC and became the majority owner of Your Mom’s House at 608 East 13th Avenue, a space previously occupied by legendary clubs like Malfunction Junction, the Snake Pit and Beauty Bar. She had never owned a venue before; her only experience in music was through No Fux Punx Productions, a small booking company that describes itself as “rated R for RAD” on its Instagram, which has just over 1,600 followers. “I’ve owned businesses, but I’ve never owned a venue before, and I’ve always wanted to,” Johnson told Westword last January. But on December 17, 2025, signs posted on Your Mom’s House stated that the venue had been seized by the City of Denver for unpaid taxes amounting to $29,820.57. Those signs were frosted over with spray paint by the following day, but that didn’t change anything: The doors were still shut, and YMH still owed the city money, according to Laura Swartz, marketing and communica- tions director for the Department of Finance. “The vast majority of this — $28,479.25 — are unpaid sales taxes,” Swartz said the day the notice was posted. “$1,341.32 is unpaid occupational privilege tax, which is a tax employers pay. The unpaid sales taxes date from as early as December 2023.” The liquor license for YMH had lapsed more than a month before the club was closed, according to Eric Escudero, director of communications for the Denver Depart- ment of Licensing and Consumer Protection. “The liquor license for this business expired on November 3, 2025,” he says. “They have a 90-day grace period to renew before they would have to apply for a brand-new liquor license. This business successfully submitted all the renewal paperwork and application. However, the check for payment of licensing fees did not clear the bank.” As a result, he adds, YMH is “prohibited from continuing to sell alcohol to the public until they provide payment required for licensing fees.” And YMH remains closed, despite a Go- FundMe that was created on December 18, with this title: “Help Denver music venue open after inhereted [sic] tax issues.” In the fi rst few days, four donations were made, amounting to $560. The GoFundMe can no longer be located online. In a statement posted on the YMH Face- book page, Johnson blamed the seizure on past owners, adding, “Importantly, this does not involve allegations of fraud, misconduct, or irresponsible operation by our current team.” However, many people claim that John- son has operated the venue irresponsibly, and worse. On social media posts and in formal complaints, former employees, as well as performers and promoters, say that they, too, are owed money by Your Mom’s House. The Colorado Department of Labor confi rms that it has received at least nine wage claims regarding YMH since last Janu- ary. And screenshots shared with Westword show Johnson threatening litigation against people who complain about their pay or her business, as well as posting and tagging individuals and entities she charges are harassing her. On January 7, Johnson sent Westword an email stating, “I served the city of Den- ver, manager of fi nance, and city attorneys offi ce today. I do plan on serving you all as well soon.” Johnson’s suit lists the City of Denver, the Manager of Finance and the Denver City Attorney as defendants; it alleges violation of procedural due process, unlawful distraint, violation of Colorado taxpayer rights and unlawful taking/inverse condemnation. Johnson is requesting a jury trial. Westword attempted to reach Johnson on the number she wrote on the city suit, while an email to the address listed on that suit bounced back. A response to an email sent to another address that Johnson had used to alert Westword to anticipate its own lawsuit said that it was no longer affi liated with Johnson. In numerous responses to emails sent earlier to that address, Johnson said that she would not comment on the record for this story. As this issue went to press, Westword had yet to be served. Claims of Theft and More The Denver Finance Department and Colorado Department of Labor aren’t the only government agencies with fi les on Your Mom’s House. On October 28, Jared Kohlmann, owner of Pro Photo Rental in Boulder, fi led a report with the Boulder Police Department accus- ing Johnson of stealing equipment. He says Johnson rented two Sennheiser wireless lavaliere microphone kits, valued at roughly $1,500, on October 17; the microphones were not returned by the agreed-upon date of October 20. The case is currently open and under investigation, according to the BPD. “After several attempts to contact Jillian via phone, email and text on October 21 and October 22, we fi nally got a text back from her on October 22 at 11:02 a.m.: ‘I apologize our sound engineer was supposed to go drop it off Monday. I’ll call them now, I didn’t realize it wasn’t brought back,’” Kohlmann recalls. “We sent several further follow-up texts, but never heard another word from her after that. It appeared that she had blocked our number at this point, as all of our calls were routed immediately to voicemail. We also tried running her card for the late fee and found that the card was no longer valid. “As per our rental agreement, we consider equipment stolen after it is seven days late and there has been no contact from the cus- tomer. We also took into account the phone routing and no longer valid credit card. So on October 28, I fi led the police report.” Pearl Stop LLC is listed as a defendant in a case fi led in Denver County Court on Janu- ary 5 by Rocky Mountain Air Solutions. The business claims it is owed $6,809.35 by the venue; a court trial is set for May 19. Johnson’s also a defendant in Denver District Court. Back in April, former YMH co-owner James Bedwell fi led a lawsuit there accusing Johnson of fraud, breach of contract, civil theft, unjust enrichment and defamation, claiming he was meant to stay on as a co-owner of Your Mom’s House. According to the suit, Bedwell “brought Johnson into the business and eventually allowed her to acquire shares and play a role in its operations.” Then, it claims, “without proper corpo- rate authority or consent,” she began operat- ing YMH under a new entity, and “Johnson subsequently removed Bedwell’s access to the premises, operations, and fi nances of the business.” The suit also accuses Johnson of making “a series of false and defamatory public statements about Bedwell.” Johnson filed a response denying all claims, and alleging that “cash receipts and inventory [were] removed or misapplied.” Her response claims that Pearl Stop LLC had become inactive, but “the venue continued to operate and sell al- continued on page 16 Your Mom’s House was seized by the city in December 2025. MUSIC MONIKA SWIDERSKI
