In May, Between the Buried and Me guitarist Dustie Waring was accused of raping and impregnating a fan of the band five years ago in a post on Reddit. Despite denying the allegation, he sat out the band's Parallax 2: Future Sequence tour, where a session guitarist filled in — but he returned to BTBAM's live lineup for their set at Birmingham's Furnace Fest on Sunday (September 24).
Festivalgoers and fans online thereafter were equally surprised to see Waring back in the fold and sharing footage of the band's performance to his Instagram Stories like nothing had happened. Many weren't too happy about this, including the entire moderation team for BTBAM's Discord server, all of whom stepped down in protest of the guitarist's sudden return.
In part, their resignation statement reads [via MetalSucks]:
Well, here's an announcement I hoped I'd never have to post. Now that we are able to confirm at minimum that Dustie is on stage at Furnace Fest, and will presumably be playing the other upcoming festivals as he claimed, several things are going into effect:
First, the full mod team has individually but unanimously decided to step down. Take from that what you will. We all appreciate everyone's support, enthusiasm, and presence over the last 3+ years. I will be transferring control of the server over to [drummer] Blake [Richardson], and he will decide what the future of this is. I have no idea what that may entail. To be clear, he and I have not spoken about this, he will have a message waiting for me when he gets off stage.
They added that they would be starting a new server not affiliated with the band to stay in touch, and that some would be sticking around the original server as regular members on a temporary basis. "The goal of the new server is so that those of us who feel hurt, betrayed, etc. have a place to be open about these feelings, while also continuing the community activities that we've all built here," the post explained.
"Mr. Waring has always maintained his innocence regarding the false allegations against him," Chad Diamond, Waring's attorney, said in a statement to MetalSucks yesterday (September 25) in light of the backlash. "He has met those accusations head-on with the truth, and the facts speak for themselves. He has put this unfortunate situation behind him and is thrilled to finally get back to making music."
It was an anonymous Reddit user who made the original allegations against Waring. She alleged that the musician raped her in a bar bathroom when she was inebriated after a BTBAM concert five years ago, resulting in an alleged pregnancy, which she had terminated.
Festivalgoers and fans online thereafter were equally surprised to see Waring back in the fold and sharing footage of the band's performance to his Instagram Stories like nothing had happened. Many weren't too happy about this, including the entire moderation team for BTBAM's Discord server, all of whom stepped down in protest of the guitarist's sudden return.
In part, their resignation statement reads [via MetalSucks]:
Well, here's an announcement I hoped I'd never have to post. Now that we are able to confirm at minimum that Dustie is on stage at Furnace Fest, and will presumably be playing the other upcoming festivals as he claimed, several things are going into effect:
First, the full mod team has individually but unanimously decided to step down. Take from that what you will. We all appreciate everyone's support, enthusiasm, and presence over the last 3+ years. I will be transferring control of the server over to [drummer] Blake [Richardson], and he will decide what the future of this is. I have no idea what that may entail. To be clear, he and I have not spoken about this, he will have a message waiting for me when he gets off stage.
They added that they would be starting a new server not affiliated with the band to stay in touch, and that some would be sticking around the original server as regular members on a temporary basis. "The goal of the new server is so that those of us who feel hurt, betrayed, etc. have a place to be open about these feelings, while also continuing the community activities that we've all built here," the post explained.
"Mr. Waring has always maintained his innocence regarding the false allegations against him," Chad Diamond, Waring's attorney, said in a statement to MetalSucks yesterday (September 25) in light of the backlash. "He has met those accusations head-on with the truth, and the facts speak for themselves. He has put this unfortunate situation behind him and is thrilled to finally get back to making music."
It was an anonymous Reddit user who made the original allegations against Waring. She alleged that the musician raped her in a bar bathroom when she was inebriated after a BTBAM concert five years ago, resulting in an alleged pregnancy, which she had terminated.
