Geordie Greep has apologized to a woman who says she woke up to the musician kissing her while she was asleep, following an account of the alleged incident published by Paste on Wednesday.
The British singer and guitarist addressed the allegations in a statement posted to Instagram on Oct. 14, acknowledging that he approached the woman at a Vancouver apartment and kissed her, while saying he had not realized she was asleep.
“I want to unreservedly apologise to her for what I did and for the distress and hurt I caused that night,” Greep wrote.
The woman, identified by the pseudonym Laura, told Paste that she had fallen asleep on a couch after a night out with Greep and members of his touring party. She said she woke up to him kissing her and pushed him away before calling out his behaviour. She also said the incident went beyond the description of an unwanted advance that Greep gave during his Vancouver concert on Oct. 8.
Laura said she had no involvement in the distribution of flyers outside the show accusing Greep of rape, adding that the claims on the flyers did not reflect her account. She told Paste that she had not been raped but had been sexually assaulted.
Cameron Campbell, Greep’s former touring keyboardist, corroborated aspects of Laura’s account in the same report. Campbell said he heard her reaction, witnessed the immediate aftermath and later spoke directly with her about what had happened. He also confirmed that he had decided to leave Greep’s band because of the incident.
Greep initially addressed the controversy onstage in Vancouver, describing the encounter as a misunderstanding and denying that he was a rapist. He performed without his backing band and offered refunds to audience members who wanted to leave.
Multiple North American dates were cancelled following the allegations, including shows in Boise, Salt Lake City, Boulder, Denver and Omaha. Greep’s European tour remains scheduled to begin Nov. 1 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, with additional dates planned in France, Spain and Portugal.
