Update | Women's bar bathroom stalls in Chicago echo familiar words: "The Orwells Are Rapists." The rock band, who found fame after one of their singles was featured on an Apple commercial, is known around their hometown for their unruly behavior, but recently, their seemingly typical rock antics became problematic when a Reddit thread brought together women who accused three band members of sexual misconduct.
A public Google Doc has been compiled containing alleged text messages from the band and shared stories from said victims. The accusations resulted in a canceled November hometown show and backlash from their former tour mates, Chicago-based rock band Twin Peaks. Twin Peaks has been praised by fans for cutting ties to the group, but the band clarified their involvement in the exposure of The Orwells on their Twitter account Tuesday.
"It has come to our attention that some people and publications are applauding us for denouncing The Orwells," the statement read. "We are here to say that it was not us, but a group of strong women that had the courage to make the truth public about The Orwells' abusive, abhorrent behavior."
Twin Peaks had come to hear of The Orwells' negative behavior from those in the Chicago community after their tour with the band had ended.
"We were unaware of The Orwells' actions during the short time we toured with them but learned about several incidents through private discussions within the Chicago community in recent years. We never felt it was out of place to make public these stories that were not ours to tell."
The Reddit thread spoke of alleged sexual courting of underage women by band members along with their unruly behavior at concerts. Multiple commenters shared stories of peers at their high school who believed they were in a relationship with The Orwells' lead singer Mario Cuomo, though they were under 18 and he was allegedly sleeping with other young women.
The Orwells denounced the allegations in a statement that explained their November show cancellation.
"It's come to our attention that certain allegations of abuse have been made against one or more of us on social media and in social circles of Chicago," the statement to Pitchfork read. "We'd like to first state that sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent. We do not take these accusations lightly and consider this matter incredibly serious. We emphatically deny these baseless allegations brought as a personal attack against us."
The statement also owns up to vulgar language and wild behavior but states no band member has engaged in sexual behavior with someone unconsenting.
This article has been updated to include the Google Doc.
Uncommon Knowledge
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