Candy Hearts vocalist Mariel Loveland says she is “terrified” to attend gigs after being “physically assaulted and emotionally abused” by a tour manager.
The singer and guitarist says in a lengthy Tumblr post that the abuse took place 10 months ago and that she has been left feeling “isolated” as a result.
Loveland does not name the alleged abuser, but says he is the tour manager for Canadian rock band Seaway and former tour manager for her own band.
Loveland says: “I was physically assaulted and emotionally abused by Seaway’s tour manager. And I’m so sick of keeping quiet and watching every band I love and adore be all chummy with him, including people who know what happened.
“As a tour manager for a pop punk band, he has access to leagues of young girls that aren’t safe around him. People should know.
“It happened on tour in front of a line full of people at Seaway’s merch. He was screaming at me, like usual, calling me names and saying I wasn’t worth anything, like usual – that kind of stuff is awful and you should never allow someone to talk to you like that, but I did. For almost a year.”
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She adds that the man winded her when he threw items at her stomach and warned her that nobody would believe her if she spoke out.
Loveland adds: “It’s been almost a year and it haunts me. Every single day I wake up and remember he told me no one is going to believe me, how I was just a crazy girl who’s band was terrible and he was going to make sure he ruined my career.
“He still works for that band, and others - they know what he did, but others don’t, and I haven’t told more than a handful of people.
“I, however, haven’t worked much since and remain terrified to even attend certain shows or talk to certain people. I’ve been trying very hard to learn how to feel confident and safe again on stage, on tour, in front of other people.
“There’s nothing in the world that I’d rather do than play music and go on tour, and he took that safe, happy feeling I have on the road away from me.”
Read the Candy Hearts frontwoman’s full account on her Tumblr page.
New Jersey pop punk outfit Candy Hearts released their latest album, All the Ways You Let Me Down, in 2014. They have a number of summer tour dates lined up.
