After recent accusations of sexual assault against drummer Orri Páll Dýrason Icelandic band, Sigur Ros announced that Dyrason would be leaving the band. In an article from Pitchfork, news came after Los Angeles-based artist Megan Boyd accused Dyrason of sexually assaulting her in 2013.
In a post shared on their Facebook page fellow, the band acknowledged the allegations and announced that they had accepted the resignation of their drummer.
“In the wake of the extremely serious and personal allegations made against him in recent days we have today accepted the resignation of our bandmate Orri Páll Dyrason to allow him to deal with this privately. Jónsi & Georg”
Dýrason joined the band in 1999 after the band’s first album Von. As of now the only remaining members of Sigur Rós are vocalist and guitarist, Georg Holm, and bassist, Jónsi Birgisson
According to Boyd, the alleged assault happened when she fell asleep in his bed while drunk, and woke up to Dýrason having sex with her. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Boyd shared the details of her allegations:
“I was drunk, and I had met him at a club (I had a brief period in which I was a dancer at a club called ‘the body shop’), I also engaged in a kiss with him before falling asleep in the same bed, after that I completely knocked out. I woke up with the feeling of being penetrated without my consent during a deep slumber…. It happened twice that night, and I wondered [to] myself why I didn’t leave after the first time—but I was drunk, dead tired, in shock, and this was right before I ever heard of anything like Uber/Lyft…. But none of that should matter because no one deserves to be raped/touched/licked/fucked without CONSENT.”
In another deleted post from her Instagram, Boyd shared an e-mail exchange with Dýrason where the two discuss the alleged assault. In it, Dýrason denies the assault and claims that he had a different view of the encounter. Boyd responds by claiming that he is gaslighting her.
In his own separate Facebook post, Dýrason defended himself but said that he will not be fighting this accusation publicly out of respect for those fighting against sexual assault. He also said that he will be leaving the band so that the allegations do not negatively affect them.
Dýrason announced his departure in a post that starts in Icelandic and switches over to English halfway through.
These new allegations come not long after the band managed to settle their other troubles. Earlier this year Sigur Rós was cleared of tax evasion by the Icelandic government, where the trio had their assets frozen. However, it turned out to be an accounting error that led to the confusion.
With the loss of their drummer, the future of Sigur Rós is unclear. The band has not announced any plans to find a new singer or how they will move on from here.
UPDATE (10/12):
After being forced to leave his band in late September over sexual assault allegations, former Sigur Rós drummer Orri Páll Dýrason, and his accuser, Megan Boyd, have both spoken out about the night that the alleged incident occurred.
In an interview with Pitchfork Dýrason denied the allegations and claims that the two never had sex. However, he did confirm the authenticity of an email exchange that occurred between the two, where they discussed the night in question.
Dýrason also confirmed that the two did meet that night, but that there was nothing but “talking and drinking.” He declined to comment further, saying, “My comment is that I didn’t do anything.”
Dýrason did say that he would have more to say in the future.
While Dýrason decided to be reserved in his comments, his accuser, Boyd, has been open about the details of her version of the night.
Boyd says that the two met when she was working at a strip club in West Hollywood, known as the Body Shop. After stepping out for a cigarette, she began to chat with a driver outside the club who said he was driving for a band that was in town.
Not long after this exchange, the passenger met Boyd inside. The man admitted that he was part of an Icelandic band and that they were recording an album. At this point, Boyd figured out that he was part of the band, Sigur Rós.
Eventually, he invited her back to his apartment for drinks, which she agreed to. Boyd said that Dýrason sent the driver away, and drove himself. The email exchange between the two confirms that this happened as she describes.
“Sometimes when you have admiration for someone you just trust them,” Boyd said, “That’s why I went along with it. There’s no other circumstances that I would have left the club with a guy, ever.”
Boyd claims that around they had drinks until 6 or 7 in the morning, but she began to think about leaving after Dýrason admitted that he had a wife who just had a child. She chose to stay after Dýrason asked her to stay and cuddle with him in bed.
“I felt guilty because I was dating someone at the time,” Boyd said, “but I don’t know—I was sort of charmed.”
Boyd says this is when she fell asleep before she woke up to what felt like someone performing oral sex on her.
“Before I could move he just started putting his dick in me. And then I pushed him off of me, and I was like, ‘I was asleep, what are you doing?’
Boyd says that she told him to stop, before getting up to dress. As she dressed Boyd says that she felt groggy and tired, eventually laying down next to Dýrason fully clothed. Again, she says she woke up to Dýrason on top of her, this time with his penis inside of her.
After this, she says that she began to look for her keys to leave before Dýrason tried to ask Boyd for her number. Boyd says this led to an argument between the two. In her version, Dýrason invited her to the studio and she accused him of wanting to brag to his friends about bringing a stripper home.
In the email exchange about the night in question, Dýrason told Boyd that “The next day you even wanted to stay and asked me if you could, but I had to go to the studio and you got upset about that.”
Despite going public with her story, Boyd has not tried to press charges against Dýrason, due to the high burden of proof and the stress that the case would bring her. She has spoken about the alleged incident with friends, who all confirm discussing the night with her.
Boyd also asked Dýrason about the night during a 2013 Reddit AMA (a virtual Q&A), where she posted the question:
“Attention Orri. Remember when you went to The Body Shop in West Hollywood a few weeks ago, January 9th, a Wednesday. You brought home a girl you met there and took her to an apartment in Silverlake. You waited until she fell asleep to fuck her unconscious intoxicated body. It’s called RAPE. Does this sound familiar…?”
A spokesperson said that the band did not answer the question since she submitted it after the band’s scheduled session.
Boyd says that she decided to speak out after hearing that Dýrason, who had separated from his previous wife, was marrying a feminist activist, who had helped the Reykjavík SlutWalk. A global movement that works to the stigmas of victim-blaming.
“He shouldn’t be in a woman’s safe space,” Boyd said.
Since coming forward Boyd has received feedback from both sides of the spectrum. Many comments have been supportive, but others have been more negative. She recently turned all her social media accounts to private to avoid harassment from commenters. However, Boyd still hopes that by bringing these allegations public Dýrason will admit what he did and apologize to her.
Dýrason still maintains his innocence and says that he will respond to Boyd’s claims in the future.
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