Icelandic Avante-rock band Sigur Rós has publically accepted the resignation of drummer Orri Páll Dýrason, following rape accusations against Dýrason that emerged last week.
The band issued an official statement on their Facebook writing, “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.”
Within the past week, a Los Angeles artist named Meagan Boyd claimed on a now-deleted Instagram post that Dýrason “raped me 2 times over the course of a night spent with him during his stay in Los Angeles recording an album. Today is the first time I truly wanted to cry as I’ve pushed down and repressed my trauma for years. His name is Orri Páll Dýrason and he is in a band called Sigur Rós.”
Rolling Stone reports that,
In her original since-deleted Instagram post, Boyd claimed that the assaults happened in January 2013 in Los Angeles while the group was recording their most recent album Kveikur. “I never reported it,” Boyd wrote. “I never expressed my pain publicly. I harbored this ache now for almost 6 years… for many reasons. I felt no one would believe me. I felt I had been irresponsible for trusting him just because he was in a band I loved and I respected him as an artist.
“I also engaged in a kiss with him before falling asleep in the same bed, after that I completely knocked out,” she claimed. “I woke up with the feeling of being penetrated without my consent during a deep slumber.. it happened twice that night, and I wondered myself why I didn’t leave after the first time – but I was drunk, dead tired, in shock … but none of that should matter because no one deserves to be raped/touched/licked/fucked without CONSENT.” Boyd said she was inspired to publicize her claims following Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Boyd added that previous Instagram posts about the alleged rape, which she claimed showed evidence of the incident in the form of correspondence between Boyd and Dýrason, were flagged and removed from Instagram. Boyd also said she was “looking to speak with a lawyer as well – this story is beginning to build momentum and hype and some legal advice would be appreciated.”
“I never felt comfortable coming out because I don’t really want to be known for this,” Boyd tells Rolling Stone. “I just felt like it was my duty to speak out and I found it odd when I discovered he was engaged to a feminist activist. It didn’t seem fair that I had this experience and he’s living out there pretending to be a feminist. At that point, I knew I had to step forward and the courage of Dr. Blasey Ford helped give me the extra push.”
In regards to his Sigur Rós resignation and the rape allegations against him, Orri Páll Dýrason issued a statement on Facebook stating,
I begin with thanking my friends and relatives for the support you have shown. It is good for me feel for your trust, despite the serious public allegations against me.
This matter has undeniably taken its toll on me for the past few days. Justifiably, some will say, and I do not intend to argue with those people. However, I sincerely ask the same people to steer their anger into the right path and abstain from dragging my family, and especially my wife, into this matter. At the same time, I ask people to stay calm and not to be divided into two battling armies, these are not court proceedings, just Meagan’s words against mine, on the internet. Loud and provocative words are in nobody’s favour – neither to me or her.
In light of the scale of this matter, I have decided to leave Sigur Rós. That is a difficult decision for me, but I cannot have these serious allegations influence the band and the important and beautiful work that has been done there for the last years. A job that is so dear to me.
I will do anything in my power to get myself out of this nightmare, but out of respect for those actually suffering from sexual violence, I will not take that fight public.
[H/T RollingStone]