Hoops are splitting up

31 July 2020, 10:48 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

(News)

(Hoops)

Hoops, who recently announced their second album, have revealed that they're splitting up.

The band have decided to go their separate ways in the middle of their Halo album campaign.

In a statement posted to Instagram last night (30 July), Hoops' Drew Auscherman revealed that it's "no longer acceptable for us to continue as a band" following sexual abuse allegations directed at a former bandmate.

Auscherman writes, "We've been seeing some pretty terrible things on Twitter over the past week involving a former member of the band. I feel it's necessary to say that we as people and as a band abhor that kind of behaviour and do not tolerate sexual abuse in any form. To the victim, we offer our sincerest apologies, and welcome any discussion needed to sort through this traumatic process."

"The former member in question has been out of the band since 2017, and as we understood it, their decision to leave was for reasons unrelated to this situation. A while after the band had broken up, I was made aware of this former member's actions. I made the mistake of not pursuing the matters further with the band and the former member, which i now realise only extended and amplified the victim's suffering."

Auscherman also reveals the main reason why they went on a hiatus, "Additionally, I think it is worth adding that I have not been transparent enough in the reasoning behind the band's initial breakup. I think that Hoops came back too soon while I was still working through my own personal issues of emotional abuse towards partners and friends. These are things I'm still working through and at the moment takes precedence over all things music related. That being said, we have come to the conclusion that it is no longer acceptable for us to continue as a band with this sort of platform."

For the final part of the statement, Auscherman adds, "It's been made clear that we need to step up in terms of accountability, to each other in the band and to the people around us. We have a responsibility to be honest and call out toxic behaviour where we see it. We'll continue to work at improving ourselves, but clearly in these cases we fell short. We're grateful to those who have helped us understand that more fully, and remorseful that it took us this long to reexamine how we communicate with one another."