Octavian Dropped By Label After Abuse Allegations
London rapper Octavian, who was recently featured on the new Gorillaz album Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, has been dropped by Black Butter Records following accusations of physical and emotional abuse, the BBC reports. “We at Black Butter have taken the decision not to continue working with Octavian and we will not be releasing his album,” a spokesperson for the label said. “We do not condone domestic abuse of any kind and we have suggested Octavian seeks professional help at this time.” His debut album Alpha was supposed to come out this week.
This news comes after Octavian’s ex-girlfriend, an artist who goes by Emo Baby, made a series of posts on Twitter and Instagram detailing the “constant physical, verbal, & psychological abuse” she allegedly faced over the course of their three-year relationship. She claimed that he attacked her with a hammer after pressuring her to get an abortion, that she “was frequently kicked, punched, strangled, and dragged out the house,” that he tried to get her to sign an NDA for £20,000, and that multiple songs on his album are about his violent fantasies toward her. She also shared photos and video footage of the alleged abuse.
In since-deleted videos and Stories on his own Instagram account, Octavian said that he did date Emo Baby for three years but denied all allegations of abuse. “People are bare thinking I’m an abuser, but just go and watch that video again,” he said. “Go and see if there’s any real physical abuse in the video. Been going out with this girl for three years, and then she posts one video showing nothing, and everyone thinks I’m an abuser, just because of her statement. Go watch the video again. This is my ex-girlfriend that I broke up with, remember that. I broke up with her a couple of times. Right now we’re gonna deal with it legally, gonna deal with it properly.”
If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or go to TheHotline.org to chat with someone online.