Over the weekend, Say Anything's Max Bemis canceled a run of solo concerts after a 17-year-old girl posted allegations of inappropriate interactions on the Say Anything subreddit, sharing screenshots of what appears to be months of sexually charged exchanges over text and social media. In announcing that cancellation, Say Anything's social media accounts cited "the need to prioritize his mental health and personal well-being." The allegations have come out just before the release of Cherry Soda, a new collaborative album from Say Anything and Wavves. Now, Wavves frontman Nathan Williams has weighed in.
On the Say Anything subreddit, someone shared screenshots of Nathan Williams talking about the situation on Discord, saying:
Stressful was an understatement the guy is a fucking idiot...
In a personal level I don't know the guy I've hung out with him 3 times when he was on the studio on a professional level he was awful
That being said it's in acceptable so it is what it is
I'm about to lose 200k bc of this gross loser but money can't save your soul
So into debt we go...
I don't want to be associated with the guy so it's as simple as that
Whatever I lose doesn't matter at that point
The real thing that hurts is he spent 3 days in the studio and I spent 11 months
And the record is good and now I'll say it
I made it by myself
It's in all ways just a wavves record
When asked whether the album might be released without Bemis' contributions, Williams posted:
Yeah there are conversations about it
It wouldn't be hard
He barely wrote anything
Would delay the release but
Yeah
Maybe I wouldn't lose my savings if I can at least figure that out
Issue here is
10,000 records already pressed
Williams also posted a photo of what appears to be him locking Bemis in a sleeper hold, writing:
Since no one will ever see it
This was the cover of alt press
If the picture doesn't tell you the story of how I felt about him I dunno what will
Obviously now this isn't coming out so
Fuck it
The "now this isn't coming out" part seems to be in reference to the Alternative Press cover story, not necessarily the album. Last month, Veeps, the company founded by Good Charlotte's Joel and Benji Madden, gutted Alternative Press, along with its other publications Brooklyn Vegan, Revolver, and Goldmine. Yesterday, though, Goldmine still promoted a cover story on Wavves. In the excerpt published online, Williams doesn't mention Bemis.
On Instagram yesterday, Wavves posted about the situation and reiterated some of the same points from that Discord chat:
yeah Ive seen it. not sure what to say but fuck max. fuck say anything. I'm sorry yall. I Spent 11 months making this record and max spent 4 days so I dunno exactly what I'm supposed to do. I'm sorry guys.
The fate of the Cherry Soda album, which was scheduled for a Sep. 18 release, appears to be up in the air. Stereogum has reached out to Nathan Williams for clarification, and we will update if we hear back.
