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Hedley Take Hiatus & Possibly Pull Plug On Career

 

Reality has finally caught up with Vancouver’s Hedley. Fighting against a torrent of negative comments about sexual misbehaviour with female fans which has already cost the band, their booking agency and management company, Hedley has announced they are taking a hiatus “to work on our personal relationships and who we are as individuals.”

Currently on a national tour in support of their platinum-selling `Cageless’ release, Band members Jacob Hoggard, Dave Rosin, Tommy Mac and Jay Benison are scheduled to wrap up their tour in Kelowna March 23rd. Concert promoters Live Nation claim that current and previous tour dates have sold well but have offered refunds to those fans, adversely affected by the band’s negative publicity. One date March 11th at Caesars Windsor has been cancelled.

A campaign by a Brandon Manitoba girl who had a negative run-in with band lead vocalist Jacob Hoggard sparked a #me too campaign to solicit responses from other women who claim to have suffered similar objectionable encounters with band members. Once this campaign went public, CARAS withdrew Hedley’s performance from the March 25th Juno Awards telecast in Vancouver, Corus Radio dropped all Hedley songs from their network’s playlist and both the Feldman Agency and their own management company terminated their relationships the band.

153_1499106944202Criticism which has been compounded by a claim of sexual assault by an Ottawa fan and a groping complaint by a Calgary radio disc jockey, none of these claims have led to any criminal charges

“Over the past two weeks, there have been accusations made against us on social media and in the mainstream media. As a result, we as a band, and as individuals, have been forced to take a long, hard look in the mirror. No excuses are going to be made by any of us. We clearly have some soul-searching to do. That begins by us saying that we are truly sorry, as individuals and as a band, to anyone who has been negatively affected by our behaviour.

We have unanimously decided to continue this tour to the end. Following this tour, Hedley will be taking an indefinite hiatus to work on our personal relationships and who we are as individuals.

We have chosen to honour our commitments to this tour for our crew (who are like family to us), for the countless people that depend on this tour for their livelihood, our families, and most importantly, for our fans, who have supported us and believed in us from the beginning.

This has been the most difficult decision of our lives. To the people we have let down, we are truly sorry and we hope to one day earn your forgiveness. We will work every day of our lives to be better.

We remain very proud of our music we’ve made and shared over the last 15 years. That music, and our relationship with our fans will always be in our hearts and will bond us together forever.

 

 

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