Dance Gavin Dance fires singer Tilian Pearson amid allegations of sexual assault

Post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance announce that vocalist Tilian Pearson has left the band. The news follows recent allegations of sexual assault.

A Reddit user posted a lengthy writing of her brief relationship with Pearson. The two were having sex under the influence of alcohol, when Pearson suddenly slapped her. The Reddit user asked Pearson not to do it again, but Pearson continued to slap her despite her warnings. They later met again at an AirBNB apartment, where Pearson allegedly repeatedly acted against her consent, preventing the Reddit user from leaving.

At the time of the posting, Pearson had commented on the incident as follows:

“This morning I was made aware of allegations from someone regarding a brief relationship surrounding the weekend of Swanfest. Admittedly, this was a time when I was very vulnerable, but I can assure you that every sexual act was purely consensual. Since then, she has reached out to me multiple times wanting to see me again. We met again later in Cleveland on tour, and I decided to end things the following day. It was an amicable split, so this story coming out is extremely surprising.

“I have text threads saved that paint a picture of the nature of our brief relationship, but I would prefer not to have to air that out.

“It pains me a bit because I thought there was a general lightheartedness and sweetness that wasn’t mentioned in her version.

“I take the subject of sexual assault seriously, and I want to firmly reiterate that there was no moment of anything happening that was not consensual. I understand that in a new sexual relationship, there is a period of figuring each other’s preferences out, but there is not a doubt our physical contact ever crossed boundaries into anything resembling assault.

“My general state of mind surrounding the weekend was filled with grief, and I was leaning on alcohol as a crutch to get me through it. After Swanfest, I did the tour sober to properly grieve and got a lot of support from the band and friends.

“Although her story saddens me to read, I won’t express any ill will toward her. I hope this clears things up, and thank you for listening.”

The band has now posted an announcement on social media that Pearson has left the band.

“The recent allegations against Tilian are something we take very seriously, and we have been in deep discussion regarding the appropriate action.

“Effective immediately, Tilian will be stepping away from the band in order to seek professional help.

“Jon, Will, Matt and Andrew will continue on with all currently scheduled dates. The band will also be proceeding with the release of Jackpot Juicer as planned.

“We all worked incredibly hard on this album, and it is also the last recorded body of work from Tim [Feerick, the band’s bassist who died earlier this year] — we want to be sure to give it the full release attention it deserves to honor its legacy.

“We know that this is a very try and upsetting situation for all those affected, and we ask people to please be as understanding as possible while everyone works through this.”