Lydia Night of The Regrettes released a statement over the weekend, where she accused Joey Armstrong, the drummer of SWMRS and Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong’s son, of alleged emotional abuse, sexual coercion and gaslighting, during a two-year relationship. Armstrong released statement responding to these allegations, where he said that he “failed her as a partner.”
Her post was originally in response to a statement published by SWMRS on their social media pages, where they commented on the current sexual misconduct allegations against the West Coast indie rock scene, particularly focused on the independent record label Burger Records and artists affiliated with the label. The Growlers have responded to these allegations, while The Buttertones were dropped from their label in response to misconduct allegations against them. The label has gone through major restructural change, while Trash Talk Productions, a company which hosts the Burger Boogaloo Festival, announced that it severed ties with the label entirely and will be changing the event’s name.
The artist prefaced her statement by pointing out what she called the “hypocrisy” of the statement SWMRS made commenting on the aforementioned sexual misconduct allegations and expressing solidarity with the alleged victims.
Night explained that she had met Armstrong when she was 16, after he messaged her about some touring offers back in the spring of 2017, when she was 16 and he was 22. She then went on to state that Armstrong had allegedly coerced her into doing sexual acts.
“Every time we took a step sexually it was because he wanted to and made it clear by either putting my hand on his crotch or shaming me for saying I wasn’t comfortable, gaslighting me, or ignoring me when I didn’t give my consent,” she wrote.
She alleged that the sexual acts would gradually progress from this and alleges that this relationship ended prior to her 18th birthday. She said that Armstrong had apologized to her publicly, which Armstrong also claims in his response. She states that the apology he had written her did “not address any of the abuse, my age, his position of power, or anything sexual at all. “She goes on to say that he texted her a “follow up on the (online) letter which was a completely transparent attempt at feeling out what I was gonna do knowing the pure hypocrisy their statement held.”
Armstrong said he doesn’t “agree with some of the things she said” about him, but that he “respect(s) her immensely,” acknowledging his failures in the relationship. His public statement did not include a mention that Night was a minor at the time.
“While I don’t agree with some of the things she said about me, it’s important she be allowed to say them and that she be supported for speaking out,” Armstrong wrote. “I respect her immensely and fully accept that I failed her as a partner. I was selfish and I didn’t treat her the way she deserves to have been treated both during our relationship and in the two years since we broke up. I have apologized to her privately and I hope she can forgive me, if and when she is ready to do so. I own my mistakes and will work hard to regain the trust that I lost.”
Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Shulz
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