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In the wake of #MeToo stories flaring up in the music world, a lot of accusations against singer Ryan Adams, a lot more female musicians have been taking over social media to share their own stories of debasement, among them singer-songwriter Lydia Loveless. As a result of Loveless' posts alleging that she was repeatedly sexually harassed years ago by the life partner of one of the founders of her record company, Bloodshot, that co-owner announced Monday that she was stepping aside from duties at the label.
Nan Warshaw, the Bloodshot co-founder who is removing herself from active duty with the company, said that she has taken the position of "apologize (s) for any hell or even awkwardness I put Lydia or anyone through, due to my actions or inactions. No one, and especially no one within the Bloodshot community, should be able to tolerate sexual harassment; feel safe and comfortable should be your right. … Because I do not want my personal decisions to be negative, I'm going to step away from bloodshot. "
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The Chicago-based label, which was founded in 1994, has been at the forefront of the intersection of indie-rock and roots music for the last quarter-century. Loveless has been among the most prominent acts on the label, which also included, past or presently, Alejandro Escovedo, the Mekons, Neko Case, Robbie Fulks, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, Murder by Death, Old 97s, The Bottle Rockets … and, in the late '90s, Ryan Adams.
"I feel like I'm going to a million pieces and this was hard to write," Lydia said in an Instagram. of other people but I am tired of carrying it around. "
In her posts, Loveless wrote that "Nan Warshaw's domestic partner Mark Panick has long been a source of strength for me" despite the fact that it was much more of a "staff of friends" issue. Staff Himself, Loveless said Panick "She's been a part of all social events." Panick "would greet me with a rub to the ass and a whisper whiskey in the ear – 'Hey, hoooooney.' … He's approaching me at the Bloodshot 20th anniversary party, while he's loved my messy hairdo because it reminded him of the way girls' hair in high school would look after they blew him. I did not know who to tell me about these behaviors because I was afraid, for me, shows are work events and Mark was a part of the label from my eyes. "
Loveless said she felt about the alleged harassment: "What did I do? Should I dress more modestly? After one groping incident at SXSW one year, I was told by Rob Miller to come to him if I was ever made to feel uncomfortable again. He is witnessed to some of the actions he had witnessed, and was told by Nan that 'she could not help it if it was the people themselves.' It's hard to remember specifics. After that, I felt completely betrayed by Nan but did not want to cease my relationship with the label. "
Loveless wrote that after two people at the label asked a couple of years ago if she would prefer to leave me alone. in passing by accident one time since. "I do not think Bloodshot has maliciously encouraged this behavior, but instead it has been designed to protect their brand, and it has been covered up in my eyes. "
Miller released a long statement Sunday, saying that Loveless' earlier statements about Panick's behavior were "essentially, and sadly, true." He emphasized that Panick, whom he called Warshaw's boyfriend, was never an employee, and "therefore, he is also Someone can fire. "He said that when he became aware of the behavior, he had addressed it. He is not allowed contact with any staff or artists via social media or email. He has made it to the world of Lydia's post, there was no further contact … I realized I had failed in the discomfort, he wrote.
Miller did counter Loveless' assertion in the aftermath of the state of the art, saying it had been done, when it was ready. "Since she told me directly of the pain and the specifics of the harassment she endured, I have endeavored to help Lydia get her story told, to go public," Miller wrote. Lydia is talking about it now. … It's never been an attempt to cover it up, diminish it or deflect blame for it. I did not feel it was our place to go with it. We should not be the ones to define the conversation or her experience. … The shame, humiliation and rage I feel over this, I fully understand, a fraction of what she feels. "
Additionally, Miller wrote to the fans of the label, "If you need to turn your backs on us for our inability to recognize this, I ask that you do not want to punish the artists or our employees. They should not have the contemptible actions of a caveman. "
In an email to the Chicago Tribune Monday, Warshaw wrote that "the length of time that I am 'stepping away' will depend on what is best for the artists and the staff," adding that she will be involved in the label going forward , as co-owner, unless at some point I decide it is no longer best for the artists. "
Panick, the man Loveless alleged was "allow (ed) to grope, paw at and mentally disturb me for over five years," issued his own statement to the Tribune, writing, "I am no saint and behaviors learned in the past can unlearned. I do not remember the events Lydia describes in the same way. But I truly wish to make her feel like that and really wish I had understood that at the moment. "
Loveless has released five albums or EPs for Bloodshot since 2011, the latest of which, "Crazy Boy and Single (s)," was in 2017.
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