Following Wednesday’s announcement and swift cancellation of two Bassnectar concerts in Asheville, the dubstep producer has responded to the situation in a lengthy diatribe posted to his Instagram entitled “Truth, Lies & Cancel Culture.” Bassnectar, who is attempting to mount a comeback three years after “stepping away” amid allegations of habitual sexual misconduct toward underage fans, aired his grievances alongside a stylized image that reads “We Don’t Cancel Culture We Create It.”
In the post, Bassnectar, real name Lorin Ashton, did not address the misconduct accusations brought against him by multiple plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit. Instead, he railed against the “cancel culture” that he feels has waged a “campaign of hostility, intimidation, and preposterous lies” against him.
In addition to confirming that his upcoming shows at Las Vegas, NV’s Daylight Beach Club at Mandalay Bay were moving forward as planned (“The Cancel Culture mob tried to cancel us in Las Vegas – and they failed”), Bassnectar addressed the scrapped shows at Asheville, NC’s Harrah’s Cherokee Center, which the venue said were “canceled” in a post on Wednesday evening.
“Sadly, as we prepare to unite in Las Vegas to celebrate and rejoice together – our FREAKSTYLE event in Asheville has been postponed,” Bassnectar wrote. The city of Asheville was targeted by a campaign of hostility, intimidation, and preposterous lies – in an effort to bring chaos and destruction to our event. We were welcomed by Asheville and promised a safe place for 6,000 bass heads to gather and thrive.”
“We have the right to thrive,” he concluded. “It is our mission to bring healing and radiate positive energy all across the country. We will not back down.”
Bassnectar stepped away from his music career in 2020 amid a flurry of allegations that he habitually engaged in sexually inappropriate relationships with underage fans. A lawsuit against him remains in the discovery phase with no trial date yet determined.
While he initially seemed to express regret when the allegations became public (“I feel intense compassion for anyone I may have hurt,” he wrote at the time), his recent words and actions have conveyed a far different rhetoric. “Our client is under no obligation to put his life and career on hold because of false allegations,” said Stacey Ashby, attorney for Bassnectar, in response to a request for comment on the Las Vegas event by local NBC affiliate News 3. “This civil litigation has already been going on for two years and could continue well into 2024. It was filed by three disgruntled former romantic partners of Bassnectar and is meritless.”
Per News 3, Mr. Ashby added that they would take action “against anyone who slanders Bassnectar or ‘interferes with the Bassnectar community’s right to thrive.’”
Click below to read the full response from Bassnectar to the cancellation of his Asheville shows below.
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