18 JANUARY 29-FEBRUARY 4, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | is to ensure that everyone is compensated appropriately and the matter is resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.” She added that she would be examining Bedwell’s records. “With my background in fi nance,” Johnson said, “I’ll be reviewing everything thoroughly to remedy the situ- ation for all parties involved. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any concerns, as I’m here to advocate on your behalf and ensure this is handled correctly.” When Madsen replied that she’d fi led claims through appropriate channels and was uncomfortable “communicating via proxy” with Bedwell, Johnson assured her that “I’m not trying to fi ght his battle. I’m trying to fi ght yours.” Confused, Madsen responded: “I’m not sure where you would have the right or ability to handle this problem instead of the man responsible.” “I am a licensed accountant and have a law degree,” Johnson replied. “I’m super familiar with Colorado wage claims.” She’s getting more super familiar by the day. Madsen met with Johnson last January, and provided her detailed documentation showing what she believed she was owed. Johnson told her that she just needed “a couple more weeks.” “It got to the point where we just were like, obviously your ‘couple more weeks’ is indefi nite,” Madsen says. So she made a Facebook post explaining the situation. “That was the initiation of the harass- ment,” Madsen says. “So [Johnson] blocked me everywhere and sent me a text message letting me know she did an audit and that I paid myself $12,000 in thirty days and that it was suspicious, so she had to work with the state department. ... I wish I had $12,000 in a month — and if I had that, why would I make a wage claim?” Soon, Johnson doubled that number, claiming that Madsen had embezzled $24,000. Pearl Stop LLC has been fi ghting Mad- sen’s wage claim, as well as those of two other managers, shifting blame to Boogie Groove Entertainment and Bedwell, who direct it right back. According to the CDL notice, Johnson told the agency in May that Pearl Stop was “not the employer for the three claimants.” As a result, the CDL granted Pearl Stop a good cause extension to respond. But the business did not fi le the appropriate pa- perwork. Instead, it “submitted a narrative response that...parroted the same argument raised in its initial contact with the Division that Pearl Stop terminated the claimants’ employment when it ceased operations on October 25, 2024,” according to the CDL. Boogie Groove and Bedwell took a similar approach, providing “a narrative response that Boogie Groove was not the employer of the claimants at any time” and that Your Mom’s House “was operated exclusively by The Pearl Stop, LLC, a separate and distinct legal entity,” according to the CDL. The CDL cut to the chase in a Notice of Determination. Both Pearl Stop and Bedwell/Boogie Groove Entertainment “each attempt to disclaim their own liabil- ity for those wages,” it reads. “Neither em- ployer is correct. It is clear from the evidence submitted by the parties that between the two named employers, both operated the business for which the claimants worked.” Johnson’s assertion that the Pearl Stop LLC was shuttered during that time period didn’t fl y with the CDL. Its notice adds that while Pearl Stop “has claimed it closed or ceased association with YMH Denver and the claimants, no offi cial fi lings with the Colorado Secretary of State refl ect any dis- solution or termination of Pearl Stop during the relevant time period. Based on the offi cial records, Pearl Stop remained the legal and operating entity for YMH Denver through- out the entire period relevant to the claims.” After the CDL determined that both en- tities were responsible for Madsen and the other managers’ wages in August, they both appealed. A hearing will be held with the claimants, Pearl Stop LLC and Boogie Force Productions/Bedwell, on April 28. Meanwhile, Johnson texted Madsen in October that she would be fi ling criminal charges against her for theft and embezzle- ment, repeating the threat on social media. “The behavior is just so confusing,” Mad- sen says. “It feels like retaliation, because the Department of Labor said [she has to pay us] the money, and then suddenly she’s trying to sue me for twice the amount of money that we’re due.” A Pattern of Harassment Madsen has yet to be charged with any crime. “This is her MO,” Madsen says of Johnson. “She’s going to fi ght with you on- line, and then she’s going to delete all her comments so that you are the only one that’s saying anything, and then she’s going to fi le a lawsuit against you, trying to sue you for slander, and then maybe try to fi le a restrain- ing order. ... You can’t intimidate people you owe money to.” But you can threaten them. “At this point now, it’s just this online, vicious, threatening legal action and criminal charges and accusa- tions, and ‘If I see you I’m going to beat you up on-site,’” Madsen says of Johnson. “I’m just trying to pay rent right now.” She adds, “I’d like to live in your head with rent, please.” Former co-owner Hite stands by Madsen. “I don’t think she stole anything,” he says. Despite all of her own threats posted to social media, Johnson has made it clear that she believes she’s the victim. In one Facebook comment to promoter Yasmine Holtz, she wrote: “Ya about lame ass Domi- nique Madsen who has been psychotically harassing me for months now. That bitch has harassing posts pinned on her page. She stole a verifi ed large amount of money from YMH when under the other owner. She has met me for 5 minutes but has continuously harassed me since February. Fuck that shit. And you wanna go laugh at that shit.” With other posts, she tagged those she claimed were harassing her, including Mad- sen. In one, she even enclosed photos of Madsen and others, along with this message: “I’d like to start the day by sharing the weird ass hoes I’ve never met who won’t stop stalk- ing me. Literally 9 months of them stalking and harassing me. They think it’s ok to do it and then get their feelings hurt when I respond. Go get fucking jobs or something you weird ass fucks.” After Holtz had an event at YMH in April, Johnson sent her this text at 1:12 a.m. two days later: “Tell that bitch Dominique to put her money where her mouth is [laugh- ing emoji] stupid ass bitch ha ha ha ha.... Fuck that bitch for real. FYI she embezzled $24,000 from James and I did the fi nancial audit upon buying the club and she was trying to demand $6200 and I was like no dude you embezzled. So now she is loud and annoying. She is going to get destroyed in court if she keeps fucking around.” When Johnson purchased Your Mom’s House, she told Westword that she wanted to concentrate on punk rock. But the venue began hosting more hip-hop shows, which concerned Holtz, founder of the hip-hop open mic Wolf Wednesdays, which she’d started hosting at YMH in February 2024 before moving it to another venue that De- cember. (Holtz is now based in California.) “When Jillian took over, I was very hope- ful,” Holtz says. “And that was just a huge disappointment for everybody.” In April, Holtz had planned an event with Something Dope for the People, an L.A.-based hip-hop group, at Coco Bongo’s, but the venue dropped out at the last minute. Holtz reached out to Johnson to see if YMH could host it. “In the midst of me booking the new venue,” Holtz recalls, “they were saying, ‘Oh, there will be a last-minute fee.’ That’s fi ne, but they never told me what the fee was going to be. And it ended up being a really good event; the bar did really good. ... So they didn’t say anything to me about the money.” At least, not until afterwards. Holtz was surprised when she was later told that YMH required a door split for events; she had never heard of that during the months that she’d held Wolf Wednesdays at the venue, and she was not alerted to it before the April event. She wrote on Facebook that she wouldn’t do business there again. “The next thing I know,” she says, Johnson is “responding back to me, calling me a bitch, saying that my event was trash, saying that I stole thou- sands of dollars from the venue...because I was supposed to pay them the door sales.” Money wasn’t the only issue, says Holtz, who points to what she and others consider racist stereotyping. “You gonna come fi ght me like you do everyone else....ghetto [laugh- ing emoji],” Johnson wrote in one Facebook comment directed at Holtz. “You owe us money,” Johnson wrote in another comment. “You stole the entire door and you were doing drugs in the box offi ce. GTFOH. No one wants to work with you but ghetto ass clubs that get shot up because your problems.” The club owner also bizarrely started using AAV slang, Holtz adds. “I thought that was very profi ling,” Holtz says of the comments. “What would make you say that? Is it because I’m Black? Is it because the crowd is Black? I just was re- ally baffl ed, and I take that pretty serious, honestly, when people start to use those words towards me.” Johnson also “started to make a bunch of fake profi les and leave reviews on Wolf Wednesdays,” Holtz remembers. Then, when Wolf Wednesdays was set to do a four- year anniversary event, YMH announced its own Wednesday-night open mic. “They literally copied my verbiage,” Holtz says. “Same exact day, same verbiage.” In May, Johnson sent Holtz a message: “I’m heading to the court house and fi ling a restraining order on you and a lawsuit...I will be sending the sheriff to your event to serve you.” Holtz was never served. More Wage Claims Stack Up After Johnson assumed ownership, she “built a culture in the environment as if [Bedwell] was like a lunatic that was gonna, like, try to harm people,” recalls Brandon Jenkins, a former YMH production manager who worked at the venue from last January through March. Despite the talk, he adds, “I was like, ‘If I’m getting paid, I’m getting paid, so I’ll do the work. But people started quitting be- cause she started getting a little unpleasant to work with.” Then things got more unpleasant. Jen- kins says he wit- Music continued from page 16 continued on page 20 To say Your Mom’s House has had a dramatic 2025 is an understatement. EMILY FERGUSON
