Melbourne punk band and winners of this year’s Triple J Unearthed competition, The Football Club, have strongly rejected allegations of sexual assault made against one of their members.
In a statement issued on their Facebook page over the weekend, the band – consisting of Adriano Pruscino, Lee Jackievic, Ruby Markwell and Leah Romero – claimed ‘certain parties’ had taken to social media to publish ‘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 statement continued.
‘As a victim of sexual assault, Ruby and the band find these claims horrifying in nature, and completely untrue in content.’
The Facebook post also stated that the band had worked ‘tirelessly’ to be a voice for the LGBTI community and survivors of sexual assault, before suggesting the band is considering taking legal action against those who had published the allegations.
‘[We] feel that these statements are an unjustified and unfair attempt to undermine their positive work,” the band said. “We’re pursuing these matters through official channels currently.’
Earlier on this morning it was announced that the band would no longer be part of the line-up at the Splendour in the Grass music festival in July.
‘In light of recent events, for the time being, all future Football Club plans are put on hold,’ the band’s frontwoman Ruby Markwell said in a statement. ‘I strongly deny these allegations.’
A spokesperson for Triple J Unearthed also denied that the staion had deleted comments on social media of those making the sexual assault allegations.
‘This page has required moderation over the past few days to remove potentially defamatory posts, including criminal accusations,” the statement read. “It has not been moderated with the intention of silencing commentary: This issue is incredibly complex, and we have heard and listened to the complaints made.
You might also like…
.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
