A Black Lips’ 7″ single housing covers of Fred Cole’s “Colt 44” and Hank Williams’ “Alone And Forsaken” has been pulled by the Italian label Wild Honey Records over “certain allegations made against a member of the band.” The 7″ was meant to come out on October 22 in support of a European tour the band kicked off in late October. The single’s Bandcamp page and the label’s initial announcement have also been removed.

Wild Honey sent a statement to Pitchfork, explaining their decision to pull the release:

Shortly after we announced the release of a one-off, limited edition 7″ by The Black Lips [on October 15], it was brought to our attention that certain allegations had been made against a member of the band. Out of respect to all involved, our staff, colleagues and the artists signed to our label, we decided to pull the release. It is not a decision we took lightly, but we believe it’s the right thing to do under the circumstances.

Wild Honey Records was born in a garage 15 years ago. We are music fans. The label doesn’t pay the bills, it quite often IS the bills. A big part of what we do is give back to the DIY music scene and the community from where we came.

Growing up as outcasts, bullied and nerdy young punks, we always believed that punk rock could change our lives for the better, that it could bring people together in times of division, hatred and polarisation. We have been actively fighting against this stuff all our lives. We condemn any form of abusive behaviour and any form of discrimination. We walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Also in October, Wild Honey artist Doug Tuttle criticized the label in social-media posts for planning to release the Black Lips’ 7″, and, in protest, requested that the label remove his music from the label. At the time, Tuttle cited a Los Angeles Times report from earlier this year that profiled a group of women behind the Instagram account Lured_By_Burger_Records, which shared anonymous accusations about men in the Burger scene from female fans and artists. One of those women was Emily Langland, who told the Times that Black Lips lead singer Cole Alexander sent her “sexually inappropriate texts when she was 17 and he was 29. (They eventually had consensual sex when Langland was 18.) Here is a passage from that piece:

She says he would text that he fantasized about her and that he liked being with submissive girls because he enjoyed holding the power in his relationships.

In one text that Langland shared with the Times, Alexander wrote that he wanted to try to have sex with her, using a more vulgar phrase.

“I like young people but that’s tabboo [sic]. But I don’t completely know why. I’m 29.”

Black Lips are reportedly no longer signed to their longtime US label home of Vice Records, though they are still signed to Fire Records. In a statement, Alexander said, “The allegations are simply not true and we have no other comment.”