Since March many fans of The 1975 have been posting unsavoury accounts of their experience with Adam Powell, the music video director and photographer for the British band. He’s been accused of predatory and manipulative behaviour towards young fans. Since then, an account called ‘The 1975 Fan Coalition’ has published more shocking claims on a change.org petition.

Now, the same account has released another statement on the platform claiming that The 1975 have taken no accountability for Powell’s actions and have not acknowledged the claims.

“To be very clear: The 1975 have still not spoken about this situation. They have not said a single word about Adam Powell and what he did, nor have they disavowed that type of behaviour,” part of the statement reads.

A post on Twitter from the account #BelieveWomen which was published in March says, “Adam Powell needs to be held accountable for his predatory, manipulative and harmful behaviour. His ways of thinking are very dangerous and this isn’t new info if you’ve been around for a while, but may be to newer fans of the band and needs to be addressed.”

“The possibility that he is still sexting and manipulating younger fans to this day who have no idea of his true colours and who are just eager to talk to someone who associated with their favourite band makes me sick to my stomach.”

“What he has said and how he has conducted himself with fans (many of which were underage at the time or just barely legal is not okay and the fact that aband who always claims to so progressive and all about the empowerment of women have continued to employ him, despite numerous fans exposing him in the past, is disgusting and shouldn’t be overlooked.”

You can read the full thread here. 

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British independent record label Dirty Hit who represent The 1975 were also called out in the petition, but ‘The 1975 Fan Coalition’ said that Dirty Hit has said that they will not work with Adam Powell again in an Instagram comment.

The petition says that over the last few months they have spoken with “victims of Adam Powell and helped give them a voice”  and that some of the “allegations were incredibly disturbing, and indicated just how deep this issue within Dirty Hit and The 1975 is. ”

The petition claims that because of the sensitive nature of the claims “where the victim has allegedly been legally threatened into silence”, they aren’t able to reveal who is accused and what they are accused of. However, they have vaguely outlined who the claims are against. On their latest change.org page, The 1975 Fan Coalition wrote:

“Some of the men we have heard credible allegations about include:

  • Three of the four members of The 1975
  • Someone in upper management at Dirty Hit
  • A touring musician for The 1975 who is a very good friend of theirs (the band and label were made aware of his behaviour years ago, and he was saved from being fired by one of the three band members referenced above. He has continued his gross behaviour as recently as 2020 and has been monitoring this situation daily via his girlfriend’s Instagram account)
  • A crew member for The 1975 (these claims were made publicly on Twitter)
  • A former (“former” is questionable) friend of the band (the band and label are also very aware of this person and what they’ve done)”

The original post on Twitter also included alleged screenshots of a young women’s interaction with Adam Powell which can be viewed below.

You can view and sign the latest petition here.

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