Another Allegation Against Brand New’s Jesse Lacey Surfaces

Last month, legendary emo rock band Brand New confused the music world when they announced a new tour, despite going on indefinite hiatus in 2017 after the sexual assault allegations against frontman Jesse Lacey.

Now, as the band is currently on said tour, yet another woman has come forward saying Lacey pursued her and told her he was “in love” with her when she was 15 and he was 27.

When the allegations against Lacey dropped in 2017, the band canceled its tour in the United Kingdom, and the band’s music was removed from every Spotify user’s end-of-year Wrapped list in an unprecedented move.

Lacey posted a statement in 2017 after the band’s hiatus apologizing for “the actions of his past,” saying he was “sorry for how I have hurt people, mistreated them, lied, and cheated. I am sorry for ignoring the way in which my position, status, and power as a member of a band affected the way people viewed me or their approach to their interactions with me. And I am sorry for how often I have not afforded women the respect, support, or honesty that they deserved, and which is their right.”

The woman who has recently come forward, named Aiyana, came forward because she does not think Lacey has properly atoned for his misdeeds (especially because he didn’t admit what he had actually done in his apology) and that the band’s reunion tour should not be taking place.

“To my knowledge, he has yet to name specific behaviors that were problematic—like the grooming, manipulation, and coercion—and he never reached out to the victims to attempt any form of restitution,” she wrote in a Medium post.

In the post, she shares her story of meeting Lacey on July 1, 2006 and giving him a handmade gift, where he accepted the gift and subsequently asked for her contact information. From there, the band’s tour manager invited Aiyana and her friend to have VIP access to various shows and tours around the country, and the two girls hung out in the band’s tour bus regularly.

At the second show the two attended as VIPs in Kansas, Aiyana alleges that Lacey became “playful” and “teasing,” telling the young teen that “If we’re gonna be friends, you’re gonna have to put up with a little teasing every now and then.” He then frequently contacted her through AOL Instant Messenger, and would often make comments like “I wish you weren’t 15 years old.”

According to Aiyana, after one show’s conclusion, the band’s tour manager sent her a text saying “You two are so cute—Jesse and I were just talking about how we want to snuggle with you both on the tour bus.”

At one point, Lacey was playing video games on the tour bus with her. She jokingly asked, “Why do you hate me so much?” and he allegedly answered back, “I don’t hate you, the truth is I’m in love with you, but you’re just not old enough for me to marry you yet.”

She said those types of comments would often upset her and her friend, but “Jesse would quickly try to smooth things over with gestures such as hugs or kissing us on our temples.”

The article goes on to show even more toxic and inappropriate behavior, like Lacey allegedly telling her not to speak about their communications to others because “although we understand our relationship, others might not without more context.”

The rest of the piece has several pictures from various tour stops from her time there.

Brand New is still touring as of this moment; originally, their tour was planned to be just three stops but has since extended to the end of July.