PWR BTTM’s Label No Longer Selling Pagaent Album In Light Of Sexual Assault Allegations
Update: A second label affiliated with the band has also decided to stop selling PWR BTTM merchandise.
PWR BTTM's label, Polyvinyl, has announced that they will cease selling and distributing the band's newest album Pagaent in a statement posted on their Facebook page Saturday. The album was just released Friday.
In the statement, the label emphasizes that, "there is absolutely no place in the world for hate, violence, abuse, discrimination or predatory behavior of any kind," and thus will be "ceasing to sell and distribute PWR BTTM's music." Polyvinyl will also be offering refunds to those who have purchased PWR BTTM products, and will be making donations to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network and the Anti-Violence Project. Though the album has been already removed from Polyvinyl's site, Pagaent is still available for purchase on iTunes.
This comes after allegations of sexual assault against one-half of the duo, Ben Hopkins, surfaced earlier this week. Accounts of the assault, first posted in a private Facebook group then later circulated on Reddit and Twitter, were published by Jezebel Friday in an anonymous interview with someone named Jen, who describes being assaulted and abused by Hopkins after a PWR BTTM show in 2016.
In response to the allegations, several artists and label mates have pulled out of upcoming shows that were scheduled with the duo. The duo has also been removed from the Hopscotch Festival lineup. On Friday afternoon, the band's management announced over Twitter they would "no longer be working with the band."
Read the full statement by Polyvinyl below:
"Throughout our 20 years, Polyvinyl has purposefully operated on the core principle that everyone deserves to be treated with fairness and respect. There is absolutely no place in the world for hate, violence, abuse, discrimination or predatory behavior of any kind.
In keeping with this philosophy, we want to let everyone know that we are ceasing to sell and distribute PWR BTTM's music. If you have ordered PWR BTTM products from Polyvinyl and would like to receive a full refund for your purchase, please contact mailorder@polyvinylrecords.com. We ask for your patience as we work to quickly process all requests.
We will be making donations to the following incredibly important organizations: RAINN (rainn.org) to support its efforts against sexual violence, and AVP (avp.org) to aid its programs against LGBTQ violence.
Our hearts go out to all victims of discrimination and all survivors of sexual violence."
Update 5/13/2017 at 5:50pm: A second label affiliated with PWR BTTM has also announced that they would cease selling and distributing PWR BTTM merchandise, and will also be donating to RAINN and AVP. Father/Daughter Records, which released the band's first album Ugly Cherries, released the statement over Twitter Saturday afternoon shortly after Polyvinyl's announcement. Read their full statement below.