Tilian Pearson leaving Dance Gavin Dance Band Amid Shocking Allegations
3 min read
Photo by Lindsey Byrnes
Following recent sexual misconduct claims, Dance Gavin Dance announced on Friday (June 3) that vocalist Tilian Pearson will be leaving the rock band to “seek professional help.”
“We take the latest claims against Tilian extremely seriously, and we have been in deep conversation over the right action,” said the statement posted to Instagram. “Tilian will be breaking away from the band as of right now in order to seek professional help.”
Tilian allegedly struck her across the face and refused to accept the ‘boundaries’ she had established, according to the Reddit user. “Was comfortable enough now to finish what I started,” the user explained, “but at one point this dude had decided to straight up hit me across the face.” Following this, two more people on Reddit came forward with their own accounts, alleging the 34-year-old main vocalist of Dance Gavin Dance.
Tilian Pearson answers to the charges of sexual misconduct
During her sexual encounter with Tilian Pearson, one Reddit member said she ‘numbed out.’ She went on to say that the singer did not respect the barrier “Was it pleasurable? Certainly not. I became numb. I was terrified of what would happen if I had fought back harder.” The Reddit user went on to say that when she questioned Tilian about the incident the next day, he didn’t respond since it would “implicate him.”
— Dance Gavin Dance (@DGDtheband) June 3, 2022
Surprisingly, Tilian Pearson chose to reply to these purported sexual misconduct allegations. Previously, he published a statement denying that any event was violent. According to ‘Loudwire,’ he said, “I take the issue of sexual assault very seriously, and I want to be clear that nothing happened without my consent at any point. I appreciate that there is a period of getting to know each other’s preferences in a new sexual relationship, but there is no doubt that our physical contact ever exceeded the line into assault.”
What actually happened?
On June 1, a Reddit user documented her claimed interactions with Pearson in the weeks preceding up to Dance Gavin Dance’s April 23 performance at SwanFest in Sacramento, Calif. The lady alleges she reached out to Pearson via Instagram DM, which she wrote while “clearly under the influence of something.”
According to her narrative, the two exchanged numbers and agreed to meet for a “date” three days before the festival. She said that she and Pearson were both inebriated when they returned to the singer’s home.
Y’all wanted proof on Tilian from Dance Gavin Dance. This is from u/spookypooky8 on the the Dance Gavin Dance Reddit
— Lex ⁷ (@lovemyselff1999) June 1, 2022
1/5 pic.twitter.com/y2DarjQNZq
“I knew he was quite drunk and going through a tough moment, so I offered to help him out, and I was sincerely grateful.” “I felt comfortable enough now to finish what I had started, but this man had decided to slap me across the face at one point,” she claimed. “Obviously, it was meant to be seductive, but it ended up hurting a lot.” I said something along the lines of, ‘Hey, um. That’s fine, but could you just ask again next time, and maybe don’t make it so difficult?’ He heard me, paused for a second, and then repeated the action. It was hard enough that it threw my hearing out of whack and caused me to black out for a few seconds.
The woman claimed she and Pearson stayed in communication after SwanFest, and that at one time, the singer pushed her to meet him at his AirBnB while he was inebriated. Pearson then allegedly made the woman physically uncomfortable.
Pearson rejected the allegations in a Reddit post obtained by Loudwire, stating he was “extremely vulnerable” during the alleged encounter and that “every sexual act was totally consenting.”
Ankita Khanrah
Ankita Khanrah is a second-year student of the Master of Communication and Journalism (Integrated) programme at the School of Mass Communication, KIIT Deemed University, Bhubaneswar.
