Why Has Coheed and Cambria Removed Dance Gavin Dance From Summer Tour?

Coheed and Cambria announced on Wednesday, June 8 that Dance Gavin Dance would no longer be supporting them on their Summer tour.

The rock band are currently preparing to head out on a 25-date tour across the U.S. to promote their new album Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind, and Dance Gavin Dance were set to be their main support act alongside Mothica.

Why Has Coheed and Cambria Removed Dance Gavin Dance From Their Summer Tour?

On Wednesday, Coheed and Cambria shared a statement on Twitter announcing that Dance Gavin Dance would be replaced on their tour.

Their statement read: "After much internal conversation, we have decided to replace Dance Gavin Dance on the 'A Window of the Waking Mind Tour.' We wish them healing and strength."

On Thursday it was announced that Coheed and Cambria had added Alkaline Trio to their summer tour to replace Dance Gavin Dance.

The announcements came after Dance Gavin Dance confirmed on June 3 that singer Tilian Pearson would be "stepping away from the band in order to seek professional help" after accusations of sexual misconduct were made against him.

In their statement, the band added that they would continue with their touring plans and the release of their new album Jackpot Juicer to honor the legacy of their late bass guitarist Tim Feerick, who passed away on April 13, 2022.

Dance Gavin Dance's statement was shared on Twitter, and read: "The recent allegations against Tilian are something we take very seriously, and we have been in deep discussion regarding the appropriate action.

"Effective immediately, Tilian will be stepping away from the band in order to seek professional help. Jon, Will, Matt and Andrew will continue on with all currently scheduled tours.

"The band will also be proceeding with the release of Jackpot Juicer as planned. We all worked incredibly hard on this album, and it is also the last recorded body of work from Tim—we want to be sure we give it the full release attention that it deserves to honor his legacy."

The band added: "We know that this is a very upsetting and trying situation for all those affected, and we ask people to please be as understanding as possible while everyone works through this. We appreciate you always."

What has Dance Gavin Dance singer Tilian Pearson said About Sexual Misconduct Allegations?

In a Reddit post, Pearson was accused of sexual misconduct and assault during an alleged encounter before Swanfest in April, Loudwire reported.

In the post Pearson's accuser claimed that they met on the Thursday before the event and went on a date, after which they allegedly became intoxicated and went to his place of residence, the publication reported.

The woman alleged: "I knew he was pretty drunk and going through an extremely stressful time, so I helped him through it, and I was genuinely happy to do so.

"I was comfortable enough now to finish what I started, but at one point this man had decided to straight up slap me across the face. Obviously, it was in an attempt to be ~sexy~ but it ended up REALLY hurting. I voiced this like, 'Hey, uh. That's cool and all but could you ask next time, and maybe not do it as hard?'

"He heard me, hesitated for a second, and then did it again. I mean. Hard enough to throw my hearing out of whack and have me black out for a few seconds—it wasn't cool."

Pearson responded to the allegations on Reddit, in which he claimed he and his accuser's encounter was "purely consensual" and they later had an "amicable split."

He said: "It pains me a bit because I thought there was a general lightheartedness and sweetness that wasn't mentioned in her version.

"I take the subject of sexual assault seriously, and I want to firmly reiterate that there was no moment of anything happening that was not consensual.

"I understand that in a new sexual relationship, there is a period of figuring each other's preferences out, but there is not a doubt our physical contact ever crossed boundaries into anything resembling assault."

Pearson later shared a second statement on Reddit in which he apologized to his accuser, saying he had believed it was a "consensual experience" but that he would "not deny [her] of [her] truth."

He said: "I understand my responsibility around consent as a man and am sorry that caused you to feel anything but respected and your boundaries honored.

"I appreciate the strength it probably took you to come forward with this account. I hold myself fully accountable for causing you this emotional pain.

"I will be entering an intensive therapy program to address this issue head on to become the healthiest, most responsible version of me, doing the work necessary to ensure this never happens again."

Newsweek has contacted representatives for Dance Gavin Dance and Coheed and Cambria for further comment.

Specialists from the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) sexual assault hotline are available 24/7 via phone (1 (800) 656-4673) and online chat. Additional support from the group is also accessible via a mobile app.

Update 06/10/2022 11:12 a.m. EDT: This article was updated to include Coheed and Cambria's announcement that Alkaline Trio would be supporting them on their summer tour instead of Dance Gavin Dance.