Beach Slang Fire Guitarist After Sexual Assault Allegations

As Beach Slang prepare to begin their tour in support of their acclaimed new record A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings, they have made a change to their lineup. Today, they announced that they have fired guitarist Ruben Gallego following allegations that he has commited sexual assault.

“For us, Beach Slang has always been and will always be a safe place for everyone,” they wrote on their Facebook page. “It was built to be welcoming. It was built to be soft. If we are going to continue to exist, we have to exist in this way. There have been allegations involving sexual assault and our guitarist, Ruben. Although this occurred four years ago and prior to him joining Beach Slang, we cannot in good conscience continue with him. We believe survivors and we want to believe Ruben, but until we learn more information, we don't feel it's appropriate for him to be a part of Beach Slang.”

They added that their Bleached Slang tour, which begins tonight at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C., will now be solo acoustic performances by frontman James Alex. They will also be donating a portion of the proceeds from the tour to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), which is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.

Following the news of his departure, Gallego released a statement to Pitchfork, saying that the accusations are “inaccurate,” “irrelevant” and a case of seeing “a situation completely differently.” However, he added that “if this person feels I harmed them then that’s what I care about and I want to make that right. I also care deeply about how this affects other victims of sexual assault specifically the ones who attend Beach Slang shows and felt that sticking around would further isolate them.” He concluded by admitting that Alex and bassist Ed McNulty “did the right thing and I will always support them.”

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