Following accusations of sexual assault leveled against one of the group’s members, opening acts who were scheduled to perform with the queer-punk band PWR BTTM are canceling their dates with the band. Both pop-punk act T Rextasy and Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Nnamdi Ogbonnaya have publicly walked away from their opening slots, directly mentioning the allegations as their reasoning.
In a series of tweets explaining their reasoning, T. Rextasy admitted that they had heard allegations of misconduct leveled at Ben Hopkins before. However, they felt that backing out of the tour would hurt them professionally. But given the newly surfaced and public allegations, the band feels that they can drop from the tour without suffering a backlash.
“Hi folks. We will speak more later about our next steps, but want to address the accusations against PWR BTTM as soon as possible,” they wrote. “We wish we could say these allegations come as a complete surprise, but that is not the truth. Around the time we agreed to a July tour w PWR BTTM, someone came to us privately + warned us that they had these experiences w Ben. They asked us not to share them publicly. At the time we felt we should continue w the tour. We did not want to out the person who had come to us in confidence. We feared that ducking out of a tour offer with no excuse would damage our professional relationships, many connected very personally to PWR BTTM. This in no way excuses us from culpability. We were scared and confused but we were also selfish. We made a mistake supporting this band. We put our career above the safety of fans who have trusted us and supported us and there’s no way for us to remedy that. We feel that we may not be the only ppl in this community to have heard these allegations before today. We ask our peers to be honest in regards to their complicity in this situation. If anyone would like to talk to us, our inbox here is open or you can email us at trextasyband@gmail.com. We are here to listen.”
In addition, Ogbonnaya said that he couldn’t “comfortably continue” with his dates in support of the band.
After these two acts dropped, a member of PWR BTTM’s touring band also announced that he was out on Twitter.
“Hi everyone. Today, like many PWR BTTM fans, I was shocked to discover that sexual assault allegations were levied against Ben Hopkins,” wrote band member Cameron West. “From my understanding, these accusations were in fact levied via e-mail months ago, but were left unshared with other members of the band, including myself. In order to provide the highest possible respect to everyone who has come forward, I am hereby ending my tenure with the band as an arranger and touring musician.”
PWR BTTM themselves have set up a separate email account for fans and others to talk about the allegations, using a mediator to interact with the inbox so that all parties will feel comfortable discussing things openly. They have also cancelled their record release show for Pageant at the New York City offshoot of Rough Trade, according to Brooklyn Vegan.
