On Saturday, Dec. 16, Pierce the Veil released a statement on their Facebook page as to why they were withdrawing from All Time Low’s UK Arena Tour. Their drummer Mike Fuentes had received an allegation from “events dating back nearly 10 years ago.” In the statement, Fuentes apologizes for his actions and states that “no one should have to suffer in silence.” Yet that’s exactly what his victim did — for 10 years.
Far too often, we see men in the pop-punk community — such as Neck Deep’s Lloyd Roberts and Fil Thorpe-Evans, as well as Brand New’s Jesse Lacey and Falling in Reverse’s Ronnie Radke — each being accused of sexual misconduct. Eventually, the allegations become ignored due to their fame and continuous music release. The media forgets about the topic and fans come rushing back; they don’t accept the fact that the people they’ve been idolizing are nowhere close to being role models.
Having read Pierce the Veil’s statement, I was confused as to what this “allegation” was — they avoided any kind of detail — so naturally, I looked toward the internet for answers.
I found a post with the original accusation from Tumblr in @stanleysrichies post.
A month ago, on Nov. 19, Twitter user @punkdoll posted a collection of screenshots from her friend stating what happened between her “closest friend” and Fuentes. In these pictures, it states that the friend and Fuentes had started talking when she was 15-years-old, and they met in person when she was 16 and Fuentes was 24. When he gained knowledge of her age, instead of cutting things off, he merely stated, “Haha, I don’t care babe, I just thought it was funny she’d try and message me about it.” The pictures go on to tell the story of the first time they had sex, when she was just 16-years-old.
And yet, I’m sure you didn’t hear about this until just recently, as the band — over a month after the allegation was made — finally released a statement. It is utterly despicable that the band took over a month to respond to these allegations and that it is now just getting coverage.
All too often, we see men all around the music community getting free passes because of their constant support from fans. Although I cannot blame the entire band for one member’s actions, it is up to us — the fans — to push back against celebrities who partake in sexual misconduct. If we do not provide consequences as a society, they will keep getting away with it.
