‘Heartbroken’: Michael Clifford denies sexual assault allegations
5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford has denied allegations of sexual assault that have been circulating online today.
The Want You Back singer has been accused of taking young fans back to his hotel room and tour bus in 2014. One Twitter user @knowyoureta, whose account has since been deleted, claimed that the musician “used to invite underaged girls to his hotel room/tour bus after shows”.
However, Clifford stressed that he would never do such a thing. He expressed his heartache over the allegations, “holy shit. i am heartbroken to read these things that are being said – they are just BEYOND untrue.
“I was never allowed in the crowd. I only ever watched at front of house – and I would've never EVER done that.
“I would NEVER do anything like that. i'm so fucking upset,” he continued.
this is what life was like in 2013 – please understand it wouldve been logistically impossible for me to get through a crowd at a show i just played at! im not trying to be defensive i promise this is just so completely falsehttps://t.co/7BfTBjiZLK
— michael clifford (@Michael5SOS) June 15, 2020
One fan urged him to discuss the accusations further. Clifford stressed that it wouldn’t be possible for him to do such things and posted a video of his band surrounded by a huge crowd of fans outside a hotel in 2013.
He stressed, “this is what life was like in 2013 – please understand it would've been logistically impossible for me to get through a crowd at a show i just played at!
“I’m not trying to be defensive. I promise this is just so completely false,” he wrote alongside the video.
The bands former manager Adam Wilkinson also denied the accusations made against Clifford.
“Lots of stories over the past 24 hours circulating about the 5SOS boys from “anonymous” and “burner” twitter accounts. All accusations of this kind should be taken seriously if the information can be cross referenced and substantiated.
“That’s not the case here and I can confirm at all times I was with the band, they were escorted to front of house from backstage at all times, often by multiple body guards and crew. There is simply no possibility of this accusation to have occurred, given the band were surrounded by thousands of iPhones in an arena, thousands of eyes on them and being closely monitored by the live team/security/management at all times.”
In another tweet, Clifford stressed that the allegations were fake, “I really just don't know what I can even say. people are asking me to explain but how can I explain something that I was never involved with in the first place? I truly want to give you what you’re asking from me but what more can I say?”
The other members of 5 Seconds of Summer- Ashton Irwin, Luke Hemmings and Calum Hood have yet to comment on the allegations.
