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Second Woman Accuses Brand New’s Jesse Lacey Of Sexual Misconduct

A second woman has made public comments accusing Brand New frontman Jesse Lacey of sexual misconduct when she was a minor.

Just days ago, a woman named Nicole Elizabeth Garey accused Lacey of soliciting nude photos from her when she was 15, and that’s now prompted another woman, Emily Driskill, to come forth with similar allegations.

Driskill has told Pitchfork that she met Lacey when she was 16, when she was a photographer and music journalist. Driskill says Lacey made “lots of comments about [her] body and breasts”.

“He was the first person to ever tell me that I was hot,” she said. “In hindsight as an adult woman, I know I was preyed on.”

Driskill then gave an account of how Lacey allegedly began soliciting her for nude photos when she was 17, and in a similar manner to his relationship with Garey, allegedly engaged her in “countless masturbatory chad sessions”.

If she refused to give in to his demands at any time, Lacey allegedly threatened to restrict her journalistic access to Brand New as a band.

“When you’re groomed like that, you don’t know how to have a peaceful, loving, fulfilling relationship with anybody,” said Driskill. “Instead you think, ‘Oh, I have to get naked, I have to say dirty shit, I have to be at this person’s beck and call.'”

Following the original allegations against him, Lacey responded via a lengthy statement on Brand New’s socials, apologising for the “pain and harm” he has caused to others, blaming a “dependent and addictive relationship with sex”.

Before Brand New even had a chance to cancel their tour dates, touring member Kevin Devine pulled out of the band’s tour, which has now had all remaining UK and Ireland dates postponed.

Brand New confirmed late last month that they have already decided to call it quits as a band at the end of 2018.

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