Geordie Greep has issued a new statement after the woman at the center of recent allegations against the former black midi frontman came forward with her account, saying he sexually assaulted her while she was asleep. In a new Paste report published Wednesday, the woman — identified under the pseudonym “Laura” — also stressed that flyers accusing Greep of rape outside his October 8th Vancouver concert were distributed without her knowledge or consent.
“My voice was taken away from me,” Laura told Paste. She said the flyers were distributed by someone she trusted and that neither the accusation printed on them nor Greep’s initial description of the encounter accurately reflected what happened. “I was not raped. I was sexually assaulted,” she said, adding of the flyers, “A man who was mad made the false claim, not the victim. I want that to be very clear.”
Laura was particularly adamant about the distinction between rape and sexual assault: “I feel very strongly that the word rape should only be used for rape. We need to be able to trust when someone says rape. Using that language when it’s not the truth diminishes it and takes away from its meaning…”
She also rejected Greep’s characterization of the encounter as a failed advance. “I was not raped. I was sexually assaulted,” she added.
According to Laura, she met Greep and touring keyboardist Cameron Campbell at a Vancouver bar before the group eventually went back to an apartment. She said she repeatedly mentioned being in an exclusive relationship. After falling asleep on a couch, Laura said she woke to Greep kissing her and pushed him away. Campbell told Paste that he and others woke after hearing her scream. He later described seeing her crying and visibly shaken.
Campbell said Greep initially downplayed what had happened and that he decided that night to leave Greep’s touring band. After informing the tour manager, Campbell said the other members of the backing band confronted Greep over his behavior. Campbell also said he had already quit before learning that flyers accusing Greep of rape were being distributed outside the following night’s show.
Greep ultimately performed the Vancouver concert without his backing band, denied the rape allegation from the stage, and described the encounter as a misunderstanding in which he “made a move, and it didn’t come off.” His remaining US tour dates were subsequently canceled.
Hours after the Paste report was published Wednesday, Greep posted a statement of his own on Instagram. He acknowledged attempting to kiss Laura, saying he believed she was interested in him and maintaining that he did not realize she was asleep. His account differs from Laura’s description of the evening, including her assertion that she had repeatedly made clear she was in an exclusive relationship. Read his statement below.
Greep’s remaining US tour dates have been canceled. At the time, he offered refunds to attendees of the Vancouver show and said its proceeds would be donated to an organization supporting survivors of sexual violence.