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The Orwells Disband After Allegations Of Rape, Sex With Minors

The Orwells Disband After Allegations Of Rape, Sex With Minors
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CHICAGO (CelebrityAccess) Chicago-based band The Orwells have tersely announced that they have disbanded. It comes days after three members of the band were accused of sexual misconduct on a lengthy Google doc that surfaced on the r/indieheads subreddit over the weekend.

Bandmembers Mario Cuomo, Grant Brinner and Henry Brinner were named in the various accounts, some chronicling aggressive behavior during performances, others claiming of the bandmembers of having sex with them when underage while yet others spoke of Cuomo having an extensive habit of sending photos of his penis on cell phones. The doc includes alleged screen shots of angry text messages.

The band responded to the allegations on Monday but canceled a performance at Chicago’s Metro that evening. Chicago-based Twin Peaks, Lala Lala and Modern Vices denounced the alleged behavior.

The band released a lengthy statement defending itself that read in part “While callow altercations and vulgar language we’ve used in the past must be recognized and owned up to, the accusations of sexual assault are completely unfounded. No member of this band has ever acted without consent or maliciously taken advantage of anyone. We encourage anyone who’s been affected by sexual abuse to speak up and make their abusers known; however we also encourage everyone to be cautious of the things they read and say on the Internet.”

The band followed that with a tweet today, Aug. 29, that simply said, “The Orwells have disbanded.”

The band, which was formed at York High School in Elmhurst, Ill., and signed to Autumn tone before they graduated. In 2012, MTV listed them as one of the most criminally overlooked artists of the year. They supported the Arctic Monkeys for a handful of concerts in early 2014.

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