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Brand New cancel shows following assault allegations against frontman Jesse Lacey

by Ryan Fine The cult superstar emo band, Brand New, has cancelled the remainder of its United Kingdom tour after its frontman Jesse Lacey was accused of sexual misconduct with minors and made a public Facebook post in response to the allegations last Saturday. Late last week, a former guitar tech for the band made a public Facebook post (which has since been deleted) about rumors regarding possible sexual misconduct by Lacey. A woman named Nicole Elizabeth Garey replied to the thread and claimed that the singer solicited her for nude photos when she was 15. According to her account, the last contact she had with him was several years later, when he called her on Skype while pleasuring himself. Pitchfork spoke to Garey and another woman named Emily Driskill. By the time she was 16, Driskill was a concert photographer and music journalist, and she says she was put in contact with Jesse Lacey through a mutual friend. In the Pitchfork article, she recounts Lacey staring at her chest, making inappropriate comments, and later threatening to cut off access to the band unless she agreed to send nude photos and take part in sexual video chat sessions. Lacey then made a lengthy post on Brand New’s Facebook page addressing the allegations and seeming to imply that they were true. He attributed his actions to “a dependent and addictive relationship with sex.” He also detailed cheating in his past and present relationships, said he is working to improve his behavior and ultimately apologized for his actions. On Monday, it was announced that Brand New would be cancelling all remaining tour dates in support of their recently released final album Science Fiction. They will supposedly be postponed for a later date, and as previously planned, the band is scheduled to disband after its 2018 tour dates.


Sources: FacebookPitchforkSPINNPR Image : flippen music

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