Members of the pop punk band All Time Low have dropped their lawsuit in which they alleged that unidentified social media users falsely claimed that the group sexually harassed or assaulted their teenage fans.
A lawyer for the quartet filed court papers on Friday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel S. Murphy asking that the case be dropped “without prejudice,” meaning it can be reflied later. The suit filed in February 2022 alleged libel and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage.
One of the unidentified defendants, referred to in the complaint as Doe 2, maintained on Twitter that as a minor, she attended one of All Time Low’s concerts with friends, circumvented security and regularly engaged in an intimate relationship with lead guitarist Jack Barakat, most of the time without any witnesses, according to the band’s attorneys’ court papers.
Doe 2 further contended she sent Barakat nude photos of herself, when she was a minor, and that the two often went to parties, according to the band’s attorneys’ court papers.
Doe 2 additionally asserted that she was involved with the group for years, traveled on tour and that at least one other band member who knew she was being sexually abused protected his bandmate rather than sought to remove him, according to the band’s lawyers’ court papers.
“Despite the fact that the assertions were entirely baseless and untrue, the viral nature of social media and the anonymity of the posters allowed the false statements to proliferate with no foundation in fact, causing the band and its members great reputational harm and harming their business,” the group’s lawyers alleged in their court papers.
In a sworn declaration, Barakat denied Doe 2’s account of sexual misconduct with her.
“The story is completely and utterly false and I unequivocally deny the allegations set forth in it,” Barakat said. “In addition, the story is also defamatory and has directly caused me and (All Time Low) to suffer damage.”
Doe 2’s account further alleged that she followed the band from 2013-15 and that she and Barakat met on a nearly nightly basis.
“This is false,” Barakat said. “Although I am unaware of the identity of Doe 2, I deny that I engaged or participated in any such similar relationship with any fan.”
Barakat, now 36, additionally denied Doe 2’s alleged claim that another band member walked in on him and Doe 2 while Barakat was sexually assaulting her.
“Again, I never sexually assaulted anyone,” Barakat said. “Moreover, none of my bandmates has ever walked in on me engaging in sexual relations with anyone.”
In his own declaration, the band’s lead vocalist, Alex Gaskarth, backed up Barakat’s claim that no one was romantically involved with Barakat during that time.
“No fan was so closely associated with (All Time Low) during that two-year time period, and to my knowledge, Mr. Barakat never had any such relationship with any fan during that period,” the 36-year-old Gaskarth said.