Sydney band Darling Brando embroiled in misconduct allegation

TRIGGER WARNING This article or section, or pages it links to, contains information about misconduct which may be triggering to survivors.

UPDATE (Feb 28, 2021): Alex Mather has taken to Instagram to address an allegation made against him.

“I am taking the allegations extremely seriously. I can’t speak for others but I want to apologise for my behaviour in the past, as a 19-20 year old, I didn’t understand how my words and actions can affect others. I’m very sorry for causing any distress, it was not my intention to hurt anyone and I’m certainly not proud of how I behaved at that time, I want to take ownership of this. I can’t change what happened in the past, but I am working on being a better man for the future,” he posted to his profile on Sunday morning, February 28th.

Sydney-based boy band Darling Brando are embroiled in a serious misconduct allegation against one of its members, Alex Mather.

In a series of posts published on Instagram Stories, a young woman alleges Alex Mather acted inappropriately at a Meet & Greet with the Alex Mather’s previous band in 2017. She was 14 years old at the time.

Screen shots published to the woman’s Instagram page detail a conversation between herself and the band’s manager at the time, David Simon, who is listed on LinkedIn as Group Director of A&R at Top Dog Group and Red Dog Recordings.

David Simon’s LinkedIn profile as of 9am February 26.

As of time of writing overnight, TIO understood Top Dog Group still managed Darling Brando but was in discussions to end its management contract with the band. Darling Brando signed with Sony Music in 2019, however TIO understands that professional relationship has now ceased.

In the screen shots of a conversation over message, dated July 17 2017, David Simon tells the young woman he is “aware of a complaint” she had made against Mather and requests information. After the woman details the alleged incident over messages, Simon apologises and requests that she “please keep this matter off public forums as these claims can be very damaging even career destroying to an artist.”

“I do believe [the incident] may have been accidental and may not have been intended,” he continued.

Top Dog Group has since told TIO that David Simon is not an official employee of Top Dog Group.

In another post to Instagram Stories, the same woman shared a screen shot of a Snapchat message allegedly sent by Alex Mather to her with the words “Exactly and you’re sexy as fuck”. Another message read: “Only illegal if we get caught”.

One text message from David Simon to the woman says, “I’m aware that Alex tells a lot of people they are “sexy as fuck”, this is his way of trying to make girls feel good about themselves.”

Note: TIO has redacted certain parts of the message exchange.

TIO requested statements from both Top Dog Group and Sony Music Australia on February 25. We were issued the following statement from Top Dog Group this morning:

“Top Dog Group commenced operations in 2017 and signed Darling Brando in 2018. As a modern music company, Top Dog does not condone or tolerate any form of abuse to any gender,” read the statement to TIO.

“Top Dog has become aware of allegations recently posted on social media regarding Darling Brando,” the statement continued. “The alleged behaviour does not align with Top Dog’s values. Top Dog is investigating the matter and has suspended the management arrangement between the company and the artists.”

The news follows a social media post by Darling Brando announcing that its three members, Alex Mather, Tom Jay Williams and Vlado Saric had parted ways.

The post, published earlier this week by TMN, reads:

“Darling Brando is sad to announce that due to irreconcilable creative differences, band members will be following their own individual paths and the band will no longer perform or release music,” read the statement. “We appreciate and would like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement over the years. Be well and take care!”

Top Dog Group CEO Paul posted the following statement to the official Top Dog website:

source: topdoggroup.com

TIO understands this is a developing story.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.