Triple J confirm band dropped, apologises after sexual assault complaints 'ignored for months'
Triple J have confirmed a Melbourne punk band has been dropped from Splendour in the Grass after the radio station was accused of ignoring sexual assault allegations against the band’s singer “for months”.
On Monday, Triple J apologised to fans via its Unearthed Facebook page, following claims the radio station dismissed complaints from alleged victims.
The apology comes as Melbourne punk band The Football Club cancelled all upcoming shows following sexual assault allegations against the band’s lead singer.
The band won the 2017 Triple J Unearthed competition to play Splendour.
The singer has publicly denied the allegations and the band has slammed them as “defamatory”.
“Over the past 24 hours, certain parties have published untrue and defamatory statements relating to the conduct of members of The Football Club. These statements are without any foundation, designed to cause harm to the reputation of The Football Club and its members, and The Football Club absolutely deny them,” the band wrote in a statement on June 16.
On Monday, the band’s singer followed up with another statement on Facebook further denying the allegations:
“I strongly deny these allegations and will be dealing with them through the appropriate channels.”
At the same time Triple J Unearthed issued a statement saying the band would be withdrawing from all future shows including a planned appearance at Splendour in the Grass.
“Following allegations made against the band online over the last few days, The Football Club will be withdrawing from all future shows, including their appearance at Splendour In The Grass. Triple j Unearthed believes this is the right course of action at this time,” a statement on the Triple J Unearthed Facebook account reads.
However the Triple J stance has attracted strong backlash from fans who accused the radio program of “stonewalling” and ignoring initial sexual assault complaints allegedly sent to Triple J Unearthed via social media in April 2017.
It’s claimed on April 21 allegations of sexual abuse against one member of The Football Club were sent to Triple J Unearthed via Facebook message.
The person who claims to have sent a complaint to Triple J says they never received a response. Others have also taken to Facebook to say they also sent complaints to the social media account.
“You f***ed up… you need to publicly learn from this,” one fan wrote under the Triple J announcement on Monday.
“Why has it taken you so long to come to this point?” another asked.
Triple J Unearthed responded to criticism with an apology a few hours later.
“We’re really sorry it has taken a while to understand this situation. Personal relationships like this are incredibly complex and it’s not our place legally to investigate,” a statement read.
“However as the magnitude of allegations have become apparent, we’ve been paying close attention and addressed this as soon as we could. We spent the weekend talking with the band, and also discussing it internally, which is how we’ve reached this morning’s outcome.
“We sincerely hope all parties concerned are OK and assure you that we are listening.”
Other fans have praised Triple J for acting on the complaints.
Yahoo7 contacted Triple J for comment on the allegations of ignoring the initial complaints.
A spokeswoman said Triple J did not have anything further to add outside their existing statements.
Queensland Police were unable to comment at this stage.
