Indie-pop band Yacht are receiving backlash after admitting their sex-tape-leak claim was a hoax for publicity. [Photo cred: Bec Lorrimer]
“We created a story that was quickly revealed as fiction by the internet,” they shared in an official statement.
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“We expected interest, skepticism and laughter. We didn’t anticipated the outpouring of genuine support, due to the credulity with which this story was so extensively and immediately reported.”
The band shared their initial statement about the tape Monday, which they claimed was not a “delicious scandal” but an “exploitation,” and that they had “commenced legal proceedings” against “one morally abject person.”
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Yacht’s two members (they are joined by others on tour), Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans, then made the video available for purchase through a new website.
Earlier today, Jezebel ran a report saying they had received an email from Evans on April 6 that confirmed the whole thing was a hoax.
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Yacht’s PR representative has denied any involvement in a series of tweets, claiming “the idea was devised and executed 100 percent without us.”
You can read the band’s new statement on the situation in full below.
❤️ We've written a statement here: https://t.co/9Q6J1Ves3D pic.twitter.com/t2CNtC0qB9
— ˠ ᴬ ꜂ ᴴ ⊤ (@YACHT) May 10, 2016