American rock band Brand New appear to have been removed from all of Spotify’s end of year ‘Wrapped’ lists.
As reported by Alt Press, users have been posting screenshots of their wrapped lists, which were made available to users last week (December 5), which now show the absence of the band from their “most listened to” breakdowns.
The news comes after two women came forward in 2017 to detail their alleged experiences of sexual assault at the hands of the band’s singer, Jesse Lacey. A Facebook post soon after also accused Lacey of sexual abuse and soliciting sexual photographs from a minor.
Lacey eventually responded by offering an apology for “the actions of my past”, while the band later cancelled all dates from their forthcoming European tour.
“The actions of my past have caused pain and harm to a number of people, and I want to say that I am absolutely sorry,” Lacey said in the statement.
He continued: “I do not stand in defense of myself nor do I forgive myself. I was selfish, narcissistic, and insensitive in my past, and there are a number of people who have had to shoulder the burden of my failures.”
“I apologise for the hurt I have caused, and hope to be able to take the correct actions to earn forgiveness and trust.”
Back in 2018, Spotify announced that it was removing R Kelly’s music from its editorial or algorithmic playlists amid sexual misconduct allegations facing the star.
In a statement issued to Billboard, Spotify confirmed it was “removing R Kelly’s music from all Spotify owned and operated playlists and algorithmic recommendations”. While Kelly’s music will “still be available on the service”, the company says it will “not actively promote it”.
“We don’t censor content because of an artist’s or creator’s behaviour, but we want our editorial decisions – what we choose to program – to reflect our values,” the statement continues.
The decision came as part of the streaming service’s new Hate Content & Hateful Conduct policy, which aims to promote “openness, diversity, tolerance and respect”.
The policy notes that: “When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful (for example, violence against children and sexual violence), it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator”.
