Mannequin Pussy drummer Kaleen Reading has announced that she will be unable to join the band on their upcoming tour of Europe and the UK starting later this month, citing "mental health concerns."
"I apologize to our fans in Scotland, England, France, Germany and the Netherlands who looked forward to seeing me behind the kit — I promise this move is necessary for the longevity of me remaining in the music industry so I can be back there to shred for you all next time," Reading wrote in a statement shared to Instagram, revealing in the following slide that Lucy Ritter, Chappell Roan's drummer, will be replacing her for the band's overseas shows.
She went on to explain that part of the reason she was struggling with her mental health had to do with the investigative piece Air Mail recently published by journalist Ezra Marcus about School of Rock founder Paul Green's abuse of power. "I went on the record anonymously for the story and what is public in the article (even though there is so much more) is absolutely true to my experience," Reading said, adding that she had suppressed the whole experience heavily until the beginning of last month.
The drummer is among the many former music students of Green's that came forward in the piece about him making unwanted sexual advances on them and constantly pressing them for information on their underage sex lives, being violent, humiliating them, and showing them porn, among other things. See Reading's full statement below.