Embattled Canadian rock band Hedley is stepping away from the spotlight for a while after two solid weeks of catching sexual assault and misconduct allegations, both online and in real life.
"Following this tour, Hedley will be taking an indefinite hiatus to work on our personal relationships and who we are as individuals," reads a statement posted to the band's official Twitter account last night.
The tour they refer to is set to wrap on March 23 with a final show in Kelowna, B.C.
Concerts listed in Brampton, Mississauga, Hamilton, Oshawa and Kitchener, among other Ontario cities, will all take place as scheduled over the next few weeks.
— Hedley (@Hedleyonline) March 1, 2018
A separate statement was released simultaneously on Wednesday night by the band's frontman, Jacob Hoggard, who over the weekend was accused of violent sexual assault.
A 24-year-old woman told CBC News on Sunday that Hoggard had raped her in a Toronto hotel room following one of his concerts in 2016.
Her graphic, brutal account of the alleged assault intensified things for Hedley, which had already been dropped by its management team, booted from the Juno Awards, and blacklisted by hundreds of radio stations.
**TRIGGER WARNING**
— brianna banana (@fragileflame13) February 26, 2018
this is honestly so disgusting and i hope his career gets ripped into shreads. i hope he never lays hands on a person ever again. #outHedley2k18https://t.co/RGgoMDdfBJ
Hoggard said in his Twitter statement that he had "never engaged in non-consentual sexual behaviour" in his life.
"However, over the last 13 years, I have behaved in a way that objectified women," he wrote. "That way I've treated woman was reckless and dismissive of their feelings… I have been careless and indifferent and I have no excuse. For this I am truly sorry."
Hoggard apologized several more times throughout the letter before announcing that "It's time for me to change."
"I've decided to step away from my career indefinitely," he wrote. "I will honour my commitments to this tour, then will be taking a serious step back in order to make real changes in my life."
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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