I The Mighty: Band liegt nach Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen Frontmann Brent Walsh auf Eis

I The Mighty befinden sich ab sofort in unbestimmter Bandpause. Grund dafür sind Missbrauchsvorwürfe gegen Frontmann Brent Walsh. Im Netz meldete sich eine Frau namens Katey zu Wort.

In einer ausführlichen Schilderung wirft sie Walsh sexuellen Missbrauch vor. Demnach haben sie sich bereits 2014 kennengelernt und seien in der Zeit immer wieder intim geworden. Zwar seien sie in keiner Beziehung gewesen und Walsh hätte sich nicht korrekt verhalten, doch sie war volljährig und die Beziehung war anfangs einvernehmlich.

2015 habe sie dann mit zwei Freundinnen, die Fan der Band waren, mit den Mitgliedern und der Crew nach einer Show gefeiert. Obwohl sich Walsh und Katey dato nicht mehr dateten, habe er sie zum Sex zwingen wollen. Als sie sich dagegen wehrte, sei er handgreiflich geworden.

„[…] I stop him for a second and tell him I’m on my period and I don’t feel comfortable having sex. He tries to convince me otherwise, coming up with ideas like grabbing towels or just doing it anyway. I didn’t want to ruin things in my friend’s home so I kept saying no over and over again. He was pouting and made me feel bad, which he then used to coerce me into giving him oral sex. At some point during that, he tried to have sex with me again. He put his hands down the front of my pants and kept saying things like “come on, just let me fuck you” to which I kept saying no.

That’s when he got on top of me, grabbed my throat, and squeezed tightly. He leaned in really close and said “tell me you’d fuck me if you weren’t on your period.”

I laid there staring at him, frozen. Terrified.

He squeezed harder and said it again “tell me you’d fuck me if you weren’t on your period.”

My only way out of that situation was to say yes. I choked a yes out and tried nodding my head, which I guess was enough for him. He released his grip, fell back onto the bed right next to me, put on the tv, and fell asleep while holding me. I was frozen. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t leave the room. I didn’t want to tell my friend what happened. I bet the guys wouldn’t believe me if I told them either. I just sat with it and got no sleep that night […].“

Die ausführliche Schilderung der Geschehnisse findet ihr hier. Untermauert werden die Argumente mit diversen Bildern.

I The Mighty nach Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen Brent Walsh in unbestimmter Bandpause

Der I The Mighty-Frontmann meldete sich ebenfalls zu Wort. Er bestreitet die Beziehung zu Katey nicht, schreibt jedoch, dass er die Nacht anders in Erinnerung hatte.

Er habe fünf Jahre lang nicht gewusst, wie sie sich fühlte oder dass Worte und Taten, an die er sich nicht mehr erinnern konnte, sie derart verletzten.

„[…] Two weeks ago, it was made apparent to me by a mutual friend that I may have hurt Katey years ago in some way. While I had no memory of doing so, I sat with that and sought the advice of close friends and that of a sexual trauma therapist. Every day, all I wanted to do was ask our mutual friend or a mediator if she would be willing to speak to me so that I could understand what happened and it’s impact.

I was advised by a therapist as well as close friends not to reach out. That if I was blocked it meant she wanted no contact from me and that by attempting to reach out, it may only be upsetting and I wanted to respect her boundary and choice. I decided all I could do was seek therapy and try to understand internally to what capacity I could have hurt someone.

My understanding of our snap correspondences were that they were always playful, lighthearted, and consensual. She expressed in her statement that she felt that if we had stopped those correspondences, she felt like I would have stopped talking to her or it would have made me unhappy. I did not feel this way […].“

Brent Walshs ausführliches Statement findet ihr über diesen Verweis.

Im Zuge dessen bestätigten I The Migthy, dass sie sich ab sofort in einer unbestimmten Pause befinden. Drummer Blake Dahlinger verließ die Band.

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

(@ithemighty) am Jul 24, 2020 um 11:04 PDT

I believe survivors. As of yesterday I’ve stepped away from I the Mighty.

— Blake Dahlinger (@muppetanimal) July 24, 2020

Die Band besteht seit 2007 und brachte insgesamt drei Studioalben auf den Markt. Zuletzt erschien 2017 der aktuelle Longplayer „Where the Mind Wants to Go / Where You Let It Go“.

Bild: Audiotree / YouTube: „I The Mighty on Audiotree Live (Full Session)“