Accountability in Music • Page 306

I’m inclined to believe Peyton cuz I’ve followed him for a while and he always seemed trustworthy to me
Though I can’t shake the feeling that maybe I’m only believing him because the person accused is someone I love and admire... bleh

 

If yall want a semi-objective view (although we all know objectivity is fake) I don't really care for/have any attachment to Mitski's music and I always side with the survivor but I'm inclined to believing Peyton too. The problem isn't that the claims are not believable as such—crazier horrible stuff, from more unexpected places has happened— the problem is that there are multiple very very obvious inconsistencies that were immediately noticed by people involved, rather than by conspiracy theorists who are trying to take down a story like they did during the Brand New thing. Regardless I have no doubt she isn't intending to lie, that this is complete truth to her, that she's distraught. But to me it seems like really the first situation where I'm going to wait and see.

 

fwiw I don't know or care about Mitski and the journalist's debunking or fact checking or whatever you'd like to call it seems very credible to me

 

I legitimately hope a journalist will fact check in a way that doesn’t further traumatize OP. It seems very simple to check Mitski’s school transcripts and verify if she was at SUNY Purchase during these summer semesters, if she had a college roommate during those time, etc. These are easy checks to make without betraying to privacy of the other person.

 

Obviously we all know that survivors don't always come forward, evidence is covered up etc etc, but with such a serious allegation you would expect some corroboration to appear. All that seems to have come up so far is evidence to the contrary. Of course It's still early days, so who knows what more will come out.

 

We don’t get to say this often in here but this is a good statement

 

As a fan, what would've been the appropriate response to these accusations? Cancel Mitski until further notice? I'm glad I didn't go so far as to take down my covers of her songs and throw away her CDs, but at the same time I feel gross for disbelieving the accuser, even if this did turn out to be false. This is such a mess.

 

about a perfect way to handle the situation. i don’t care for her music at all and actually kinda dislike it, not that it’s the point at all, but she really handled this in a truly inspiring way for a figure-point in this “scene” or whatever. truly hope the OP gets the help they need.

 

I would always rather err on the side of the accuser. However, in instances where evidence seems to show opposition from multiple corroborators pretty immediately, I think it’s okay to try and hold back a judgment for more information to develop. I 100% believe accusers, but I also want correct information. This situation did not seem like a mission to prove the accuser wrong moreso than people wanting true information.

 

Patience is probably the answer. Snap decisions and immediate "cancellation" might be what the internet culture demands but you don't actually owe strangers anything. Waiting for a situation to develop does not make you a bad person. Especially when it's a situation like this that just doesn't feel right from the start.

 

i believe 100% that something happened to the accuser and that it seems pretty clear their family is abusive. i think the mitski element is questionable, at best, given the evidence that has come out over the last day.

 

If someone wants to be in touch with @amberdollars and help them get mental health support and services and work with victim advocates in their state, I think that would be a very good thing to do. Even if Mitski isn't involved at all, she may have been victimized by someone else and reports could be filed and charges or damages possibly pursued. People trying to help her online can help encourage her to do, whether her allegations against Mitski are credible, not credible, and especially if we can't tell if they are credible or not.

The most serious criminal allegations made by the person making the accusations involve sex trafficking. That's coerced sex work, and trafficking usually involves one or more other people who traffic the victim to someone else, in this case allegedly Mitski. The person making the allegations said she was "trafficked" to Mitski, and if that phrasing is correct it clearly implies that someone else besides Mitski was allegedly involved.

The person making the accusations should know something about the person or people who she says trafficked her to Mitski, and likely either knows their real name(s) or alias(es). I suppose that's been reported to someone with the criminal justice system who has been involved in investigating the case (that may be the FBI people she refers to). Information about other parties involved could make building a criminal or civil case much easier. If that hasn't all been share with investigators, it should be.

Whatever the allegations (and whether or not Mitski is likely involved), when some serious allegation is made there's usually a lot of communication records existing or occurring in the same period of time with (contemporaneous is a word that can go here) like text messages, DMs, etc, that the person making the allegations could offer or help recover to help investigators build a case, or help investigate others, whether or not the timeframe for filing some or all of the possible criminal charges involved has passed.

 

I wish I was shocked by men not understanding boundaries but I'm not

 

All of the OP's posts have been taken down on Tumblr

 

ImAMetaphor, maybe you saw her page with no posts while she was editing or hiding some of them, but at this time she's taken down or hidden most of her posts but all of them. She's made one last post below and kept a couple supportive posts below that, and she's saying she's taking a break because she's not being believed by so many people. Read the posts she has up at this point if you like, it sounds like she isn't saying no one believes her or she has no friends or she's desperate or having a acute mental health crisis or engaging in some sort of harmful behavior, etc. To me this implies she's acknoldging she has friends, she's lucid (thinking clearly) and probably stable (not in a deteriorating psychological state), in other words.

She says she can be messaged or contacted by her friends, but she does not say that no one else should try to reach out to her. I suppose if sincere people who don't know her want to contact her or continue trying to help her they can do so.

Here's a link to the most recent post she has up at this time:

 

So Mitski runs a pedo ring and Katy Perry sexually assaulted a co-star? 2019 continues to roll on...

 

I want to be very careful about how I say this, and it comes off poorly, please tell me and I'll remove it.

The OP has mentioned a couple times (most recently on their blog, which I can link to) that they fear for their physical safety in the wake of these allegations being made public. As others have said, I do believe something has happened to this person in their past and mental health could be a huge contributing factor in the allegations. The OP says they weren't expecting to reach a wide audience with the initial accusations, which may be true, but I don't know. If they believe they are in legitimate danger since this been made public, I'm not just sure I understand the motivation behind posting it all. That's not really any of my business, I suppose, but it's something weighing on me.

Along with that, though, could be the OP's mental state causing them to hastily post these claims without more forethought, which I get it.

 

@amberdollars, the person making the allegations may likely have been a victim of bullying or harassment before for many different things, and they may fear that even if they don't think that Mitski herself or someone with her will likely do so. People with mental health issues are often more likely bullied as kids or more vulnerable to harassment as adults.

While I can't tell from reading her posts if she feels more in danger now than before she doesn't seem to have gotten more fearful in her posts over the last few days though this incident. She's vigorously defended herself and a lot of people have responded with supportive posts, though she's probably gotten more skeptical posts and a lot of simply unhelpful if not harassing posts as well.

I wouldn't worry much about her being worse off for what she's posted, she may even be better off for the supportive contacts she's made by doing so. I think there's reason to hope so, at least.

 

The entire situation is wild but no one should feel bad for not believing the accuser (I'm hesitant to say "victim") especially when there are so many glaring contradictions and misstatements.

 

Amber's not backing down from her allegations so this is just gonna boil down to a "she said she said" situation.

 

The last thing Amber needs--and, I assume, the last thing Mitski wants--is a defamation lawsuit. People are actually calling for such a thing and I just... she needs help, not to be sued.

Also, fans are being shamed for un-canceling Mitski. I mean, yeah, it's good to give the victim the benefit of the doubt, but this is over, isn't it? Things got so ugly all around.

 

I don't know where else to go from here. If people want to believe Amber, okay. I can't fault or judge someone for that decision. However, I believe based on what I know about the situation and the circumstances surrounding it that this is the story of someone deeply unwell and traumatized who projected their trauma, for whatever reason, onto someone else. I wish her the best, and I truly hope she gets solace and peace in the wake of this, but things are basically settled for me.

If I'm looking at this incorrectly, missing something, or being insensitive, please let me know. The last thing I want to do is hurt victims, and anyone calling her or people who believe her stupid can fuck off.

 

Unless and until something concrete actually comes out regarding Amber's mental health, I don't know if people should be speculating about it. Also, if Amber is maintaining her story I'm personally erring on that side of the equation until something changes.

 

Due to some of the info OP gave - such as being enrolled on the summer college program - this kinda sounds like something that can be proven either true or false