Smith Street Band’s Wil Wagner pens open letter addressing emotional abuse allegations

The Smith Street Band have been recording and are about to go back on the road.

In a lengthy Facebook post, bandmember Wil Wagner has opened up about the public release of emails between him and his former partner, Georgia McDonald of Camp Cope.

Wagner said in the open letter that it will be the last time talks publically on the matter.

At the time, he acknowledged the allegations, but the backlash came quickly.

Two support bands, Brisbane’s Sweater Curse and New Zealand’s The Beths, puled out of the band’s I Still Dream About You tour in March

The tour was eventually cancelled.

Wagner reveals, “Our band has lost every opportunity we had coming our way as well as a substantial amount of money because we cancelled a tour after all being so fucked up by this entire situation.

“People have been unwilling to work with us, not because of my behaviour, but because of fear of getting called out by this rolling mob, something both really unfair and totally understandable.

“When the hate is directed at you it consumes your life and it would be unreasonable to expect anyone to put themselves in that position for us.”

In the latest post, Wagner spells out in detail the circumstances of the rift with McDonald, but also calls out what he calls the “mob-stalking” mentality that followed.

“While I’m talking about how delighted people have been to obliterate me online I’d like to mention the commenters and hot-take havers who instantly drop the word ‘emotional’ when talking about this and instead use words like assault, victim and survivor.

“They use the language of genuine victims of rape and violence to win fights on the internet about me sending angry emails during a terrible break up.

“The deliberate misuse and hijacking of these words, phrases and sentiments is deeply disrespectful, particularly to other women, and incredibly offensive. “

Wagner says, “The same people attacked my parents when this happened.

“People attacked my sister, my auntie, my ex girlfriends and anyone else who dared say anything positive about me.

“In the comments sections condemning me for my behaviour, strangers have said things infinitely worse than anything I’ve ever said.

“The term we’ve come to use for this behaviour is righteous bullying.”

Read the Facebook post in full, below:

https://www.facebook.com/121150074592724/posts/3071832692857766/

Content Warning: This article discusses themes of abuse. If you or someone you know are affected by this story, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.