My (Abby) experiences with Ben began shortly after Febuary broke up, and I too was confiding in Ben and chatting about generic things like music, aspirations, where we are from, etc.

Shortly into our conversation, Ben would shift the topic from talking about all the opportunities he could help me with in this industry, to a more objectifying and sexual manner. I remember the first night we had FaceTimed, he asked me who was the oldest guy I had ever been with… and if it wasn’t too far from his 49 years of age.

In full transparency and honesty, I have protected Ben’s image in fear of retaliation and the fact that I never clearly indicated I was uncomfortable or stopped the conversation. Ben was so good at manipulating the narrative that I was fully convinced I had these interactions handled, and it would never get to a point where my boundaries were crossed.

A few days into talking with Ben however, he flew out to Vegas in an attempt to get me to stay at his hotel room with him, and go out on dates… I was so confused and disappointed with myself, I felt so disgusted. I ended up ghosting him for that whole weekend and just walked around with the deepest pit in my stomach.

Messages from when he was planning on coming to Vegas…

After not answering any of Ben’s multiple calls and messages, he began to send me a plethora of more messages weaponizing his kindness and all the amazing opportunities he said he would help me with, ultimately giving me an ultimatum.

The more I look back the more I realize none of this was my fault, and I cry for the girl that was carrying around this anxiety trying to navigate this situation with one of her favorite artists …. Like ever.

Ben would continue to check up on me and ask if we are still okay, I would send one- off messages saying we’re good and there is no beef, or I’m just busy and need some time.

He would later profusely apologize for his behavior regarding that weekend and ultimately use his mental illness as justification for everything.

Now I’m sure most would wonder why we would still decide to go to Portland and record a split EP with him after all this…. But that should prove just how skilled of a manipulator Ben Barnett is…

Recording this record was pretty much a desperate attempt to make sure we are still on his side and not thinking about just how much he had already put us through.

The offer from the deal we were about to do came and after a lot of back and forth we were convinced that recording was going to be a fun and refreshing experience.

While in Portland it was very apparent what kind of person Ben Barnett was,

He would make jokes about me , Steph, or rila, being hot or looking like a celebrity crush he’s always fantasized about… he would say the N-word while singing songs, and then would later go on to press and barade me for 20 minutes over not wanting to re- record all of the tracks to the 5-song ep we were recording (with two days left of our trip fyi)

It was clear Ben was only ever kind to us and helped us for his gain, everything in our relationship he saw as transactional and that was proven to us when he proceeded to throw everything he was doing for us in Portland, in our face when we disagreed on ONE idea.

Getting pressed by a 50 year old man was not on my agenda when in a studio drumming for 10+ hours on a broken pinky, we were all completely shocked when Ben started to blow

up on me.

We decided to pack up all of our stuff and leave for a hotel at about 2 in the morning.

Ben would later bombard my bandmate Airon with a plethora of messages ultimately trying to shift the blame on me, saying I was being defiant and treating Ben like a “cop”,

Like I was a crazy girl and Airon is  his “bro” he’ll take his side on that.

It was totally and completely unprofessional and that was the last time we let him cross the line with us.

What’s so insane to me is a few hours before he began pressing and blowing up on me, he was telling me things like “I know there’s no world we could ever be together, but I adore you” and that I looked like women he fantasizes about, and I noticed after shutting down those comments and expressing that I don’t care and I wasn’t here for that, he began treating me passively for the rest of that day, leading into the crash out that night.

None of us deserved to go through that, and there is absolutely NO world where a grown man should be pressing a 19 year old girl who you are HOSTING and PRODUCING a record for….

I will not protect this man’s reputation, he can try and use big words and heart felt phrases to convince you all that he is “human” and he isn’t the same asshole that he was in the past… but we will NOT allow this man to have a space in our scene and give him the platform to

manipulate another young artist.

What Ben Barnett put me through I will never ever forget as it is all burned into my memory for the rest of my life… I will not let people twist the narrative and make us out to be immature naive artists, while Ben barnett gets to withhold this prophet reputation and continue to get a pass solely because of how long he’s been in this industry. Allegations like these have followed him for 10+ years and it stops with us.

We have been silent for months and no longer want to protect our groomer. Benjamin Barnett has been engaged in conversations online about the rumors of why we stopped working together. He says it was because of our bands “immaturity” and lack of knowledge when it comes to recording. I will not let our bands image get jaded by this man’s constant string of lies. The truth is he groomed us all, and once he didn’t get things his way he completely turned on us. As a band compiling three women and a man who stands by us through all the difficulties we face, who are so outspoken about women’s issues, we will NOT be silenced.

BEN BARNETT OF KIND OF LIKE SPITTING GROOMED, MANIPULATED, AND ABUSED HIS POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIP.

We hope this statement can clear any confusion on further discussion about what might have happened between us and maybe even shed light on any of Benjamin’s possible previous or future victims. No woman, man, or anyone of that matter should have to go through what we and other victims have endured, and have had to deal with emotionally these past months. Too many people in this industry get away with things like this and still have a platform. Benjamin Barnett should NOT under any circumstance have a platform. This is our truth and we hope you can support us and anyone else who comes out with their experiences with him.