Recently a series of Instagram posts detailing a culture of sexual assault, abuse, and predatory practices at Burger Records has lead to a reckoning at the label and the associated brick and mortar record store. There have been multiple developments since the start of this week, some of which are listed below:
- Days after announcing a label rebrand, Burger Records has officially disbanded under the backlash of the allegations. Public outcry and accusations that the rebrand was a craven attempt to either silence the victims and/or put the label’s interests first have lead to those plans being scrapped entirely.
- Lydia Night of The Regrettes took to Instagram to detail her allegations of assault, specifically against one of Burger Records biggest names, SWMRS‘ Joey Armstrong, son of Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong. Night detailed her accounts of abuse that began when the musician was 16 to Armstrong’s 22 when the two bands were touring together in 2018 and 2019. Armstrong has since responded via the SWMRS Instagram account.
- Brooks Nielsen of The Growlers posted a statement on the band’s Instagram following allegations brought against them and their keyboardist Alan Wolcott Smith. Smith has also posted two statements, which can be read here and here. Smith has now also announced he is leaving the band.
- Clementine Creevy of Cherry Glazerr has posted accusations against Sean Redman of The Buttertones, who was a member of Cherry Glazerr for several years. Since that posting, it appears The Buttertones have deleted or deactivated some or all of their social media accounts. Additionally, The Buttertones label, Innovative Leisure, have dropped the band and removed all Buttertones merch from their store, as well as delisting all streaming and video posted across websites by the label itself.
- Justin Champlin of Nobunny issued a statement via Facebook apologizing for past behaviors, despite not actually being named in an accusation. He would go on to announce that the band would be no more.
As allegations continue to pour in, multiple musicians and acts have also been releasing statements of support of the alleged victims, including Hayley Williams of Paramore, Shannon and the Clams, Vivian Girls, The Garden, and many more.
This is a developing story, and TGEFM will continue to update as new developments come to light.
