The Southend band Nothing But Thieves today withdrew from all future press engagements as a number of women came forward with sexual harassment allegations.
Guitarist Dom Craik, 24, faces multiple accusations of aggressive, lewd behaviour. Twitter user @KeraStewart claims he was “shoving his tongue down [her] throat” after a 2015 gig. Drummer James Price has also been accused by one 17-year-old fan of demanding nude pictures online.
Stewart’s story was not taken seriously by the band’s management, with one crew member replying “hey whatever it was a long time ago”. Pete Bright, the band’s technician, added simply “haha that sounds like dom”. Bright was himself, incidentally, the subject of several allegations.
Nothing But Thieves issued a statement through Twitter yesterday, denying the “false allegations” while claiming to “support victims of assault.”
“The past week has been one of the most difficult of our careers. Being falsely accused of sexual assault in a public forum [sic] having these false allegations made about you and people immediately believing them hurts.”
“…most of all, it hurts the victims of abuse who are telling a true story.”
The band’s manager, Stefanie Reines, added in a private message “Not everything you read on Twitter is true.” Nothing But Thieves at the time of writing have no plans to interrupt their ongoing international tour.