[Content Warning: Themes of sexual assault and inappropriate relationships with minors]
After allegations resurfaced last week against Space Jesus, he put out a lengthy statement that included screenshots of text messages and emails as well as audio clips as long as 20 minutes to back up his own claims. He also put out a statement in regards to an incident where he was sexually and intimately involved with a 17-year-old in 2018. In the statement and apology, he made sure to highlight that it was his understanding that she was over 18 and the legal age consent where the incident took place was 16. No mention of power imbalances or inappropriate relationships were made.
On Monday, June 28th, Space Jesus held an AMA via an Instagram live. He begins the live stream by stating that he’s not there to defend himself and he’s there to listen to what we have to say. He sends an open invitation to anyone who has been wronged by him or “feels that they have been wronged” by him. He invites them reach out to him to speak to him personally and hold him accountable. Before getting to the point where he begins to take questions, he makes a point to speak his piece first. He mentions that he has only had one monogamous relationship with one person in the last two years, his girlfriend and fellow artist Huxley Anne. Space Jesus also talks about things he has done in the last few years to make changes. He mentions he’s tried to enact change and create safe spaces at shows and educate security. He says that he hopes that as members of this community, from members of the crowd to those backstage, we will hold each other accountable for everything in the future.
After, and only after, putting out his statement he mentions that he wanted to put a live together as an AMA but “doesn’t know how to address some of the things you guys are saying.” Space Jesus never utilizes the Instagram Q&A feature. This left the questions he answered entirely up to his discretion of what he chose from the flowing live chat. Following are the questions or prompts along with Space Jesus’ exact responses during his Instagram live AMA. Also included is a screen recording of the live stream of what we did capture with some of the questions he didn’t answer on-screen. Note that some of the questions are unknown as he was responding to the live chat without directly addressing specific questions, despite the live chat pointing out the Q&A feature throughout the live stream.
Address the rumors.
SJ: What uh–what rumor–I don’t know what rumor you guys are talking about very specifically.
Unknown question, not addressed on live stream.
SJ: Yeah, alright. Yeah, of course.
Unknown question, not addressed on live stream.
SJ: Anyway I can—I mean…I’m having trouble seeing what people are saying. I–I understand that uh…yeah I understand that. I see uh…you know and–and whatever it is, you know? I’m–I’m happy to and I’m fine with stepping away from everything and the things that I’ve worked on, you know? I–I know what my truth is. I know what I believe, you know, and I know that I’ve acted to that, you know. Uhm…you know I encourage other artists to do some of the things that we’ve done in-in you know especially in the past two years, you know?
Live stream freezes
SJ: Okay here we go, somebody is saying uh address the rest of the allegations displayed against..@allegationsagainstspacejesus page.
Address the rest of the allegations displayed on the @evidenceagainstspacejesus page.
SJ: so I mean the–the th–honestly like I’ve–I’ve addressed, I’ve read through the allegations very carefully and I’ve addressed everything that I can speak to, you know? I mean, the truth is there’s–there’s gray areas at these shows. I know that I haven’t forced anything against anybody’s will and the people that know me and have been around me can attest to it, you know? Uhm…you know, I’ve spoken the best that I can do things that are true and I’m–I’m I have nothing to hide about that, you know? Uhm…somebody said did you know anything about Datsik was doing as it happened?
Did you know anything about what Datsik was doing as it happened?
SJ: I mean the…you know, on that tour I honestly–I–I–you know, I saw a person who was having sex with people in a room in the back of a bus, you know? I…don’t know what happened…in that room, you know? I uh…you know, as I said at the time, you know? Uhm…but, you know, I obviously like even just being involved in that situation made it super apparent to me that I need to do as much as I can to try to make things…you know, the way that I wish they could be, you know? I think that things can be better for everybody regardless of how this situation plays out, you know? I just want to be here and set some sort of an example of not running away from this, you know? It’s just something that we just have to face.
SJ: Yeah so somebody is saying about my–
Live stream freezes
SJ: What we’ve put into place and what we do, you know? In terms of things I’ve been doing to try to be better, you know? I’ve donated money, I’ve raised money to…uhm…for–for–uh–uh organizations that–that support uh victims and survivors of–of abuse, you know? Uhm…I’ve been getting therapy for the last year, it’s something that I would do anyway, you know? Uhm…it’s been super helpful, you know? Uhm Yeah, I mean–I’ve truly been trying to do the best that I can and lead–and lead (by example). Uhm…I have been taking actions, you know? And like, I’ll continue to regardless of–of–of uh…the way..Somebody said why walk away if you didn’t do anything wrong?
Why walk away if you didn’t do anything wrong?
SJ: I mean, well the reason for that is because I just want to–I want to show that I’m this willing to be a part of positive change, you know? That’s–that’s just what it is, I mean it’s hard to fathom or hard to think about giving up the things that I’ve worked for but in the long run, it’s not about me, you know? This is about a community of music it’s about the society as a whole it’s about everything I mean we need to–we need to be better…and if walking away is something that’s going to help, you know, then–then I’m happy to do that. Uhm…somebody asked about the Instagram account with allegations.
Unknown question or statement about the @allegationsagainstspacejesus Instagram
SJ: You know I’ve spoken to that previously in the post, you know, I don’t want to make this about any person singularly, uhm, or anything like that.
What are you holding yourself accountable for?
SJ: What I’m holding myself accountable for is being a part of the EDM community, you know, where there are issues, you know? I’ve been…I’ve been touring for ten years, you know, and I’ve seen things change over time. I truly believe that things are changing to a more positive direction, you know? And I–I’ve seen–I’ve seen it happening and I see people that take it as their own responsibility and make action against it, you know? I’ve seen some of you in here as artists and, you know, I respect all of you for doing so.
What changes have you made specifically to create a safe space for your fans?
SJ: That’s something that I can–I can speak about. Uhm…we bring–we bring cards to every show that we give people upon entry, you know? Uhm…we take extra time to uh to–to teach and to give information, educate the security guards at the shows, you know? We created–we have a system that we’ve been advised by companies that–that uh and organizations that–that–that specialize in–in this sh–in this issue, in–in nightlife in general, you know? Uhm…you know, to put a system into place so that people can, you know, if they feel uncomfortable, if they feel unsafe at any time they can–they can easily get out of a situation by slipping this card to either a person in the Space Jesus T-shirt or uh a staff T-shirt or a security guard and we have a safe space where they can go to and–and stay and enjoy and see the show and–and uh, you know? There have been multiple occasions in the last two years since we’ve put this practice into place where, you know, there–people have been removed from shows from acting improperly, you know? We don’t–it doesn’t turn into some big deal but we’re, you know, we’re able to create that safe zone at the show, you know? I–I truly, personally believe in discourse, you know, and discussion. Uhm…I think it’s a really important time for us to think about that, you know? Regardless of all these–of–of these–these things specifically, you know? Like, we need to be able to talk to each other about this stuff, it’s really hard to, you know? I mean, it’s–it’s–it hurts, you know, it–it’s painful and I understand completely why people have been calling me names and saying certain things like it–it’s–it’s fine, it’s okay, you know? It’s okay to do that because this is really difficult stuff…you know? But, like, I really hope that this can truly spark some sort of true conversation for us to continue to move on to talk about this and to enact changes to–to make actions, you know? I encourage other artists to donate money. I encourage other artists to put things into place at their shows to create a safer space. It’s the–it’s truly what–just what we need to do.
SJ: I’m just scrolling through some of this..yeah, there’s a lot of uh…yeah I–I mean, I see people mentioning artists specifically like, I don’t want to speak to any of that, and I don’t want to sit here and call any single person out, you know? This is not about me defending myself, you know? It’s just about me sh–here with no–no other people, you know? I’m showing you who–who I am and what I believe, you know? And I encourage you to look at things and take from it what you will and whatever you decide. I hope that moving forward we can all do our best. I mean that’s–that’s all I can–I can hope. There’s uh…yeah. Like I s–as I said, I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t know if I’m using this Q&A function right. Yeah…uhm…so the last question that I–that I saw uhm…I would abso–absolutely willing to–the person asked would you be willing to go on live with uh–with victims that I haven’t spoken about?
Would you be willing to go on live with victims that you haven’t spoken about?
SJ: Well, I mean if–you know, I feel like there’s a little bit of a tra–a trap in that wording but I mean the thing is, what i–what I want to say is yes. I’m willing to talk to anybody, you know? Whether it’s privately, whether it’s with a m–some sort of a mediator. I mean, I can’t imagine it would be comfortable for people to speak publicly, uhm, with me directly about this stuff. But I mean if somebody wants to have a conversation I’m totally ha–happy to do it.
SJ: Uhm, I’m seeing uh a lot of questions that are not quite making sense. Uhm…anyway…uh…yeah. This is uh…this is I guess harder than uh…it’s hard, you know? But that–that’s part of it, you know? We have to–and I want to face this pain, you know? Whether it’s as Space Jesus or not, you know? I–I…it’s fine, you know? I mean like, I guess I want to uh…leave things here with–with a thought cause I–I don’t really know how to uh…how to interpret a lot of these questions. Alright…uhm…look I–I understand how–how difficult these are. I understand how upsetting this stuff is…you know? There–a lot of these things are not true I’ve spoken to that, you know? I guess I want to leave you guys with a thought, you know? It’s just, I’m a bit confused to be honest and uh…my friend Pipus once said, “you don’t have to make sense to make change,” you know, and I do believe that, you know? But I think at this point, you know, we–we’ve began the change and uh it’s time to take action, for all of us. This is just–it’s truly just what I believe, you know? I mean, you guys can see or not, you know? Uhm, it’s up to you but I hope we can all hold each other accountable, you know? Whether it’s with me or with anyone else. Uhm..you know, uh…people are asking for facts, you know, I’ve stated facts previously, you know, for real I can’t speak to uhh…anything that–that–that hasn’t happened you know? Or that I, you know, that–the claims that I don’t understand, you know? Uhm…I’ve spoken to how I’m going to take action. Well, thank you guys for speaking your mind here and uh…yeah. I’m here for it, you know? I have nothing to hide, you know? I’m not blocking any comments, I’m not doing anything like that, you know? I’m here to hear you out, regardless of who I am. So, thank you for taking the time in this difficult, difficult time, you know? If there’s anything else, please message me directly and I’ll do my best to address any and everything. Thanks. (To someone off camera) That was–
*Feature Image via Treevalds*
