On Monday, Lydia Night of The Regrettes accused SWMRS drummer Joey Armstrong – son of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong – of emotional abuse and sexual misconduct in a lengthy Instagram post. This is part of a wave of allegations that surfaced over the weekend against artists and employees of the California label Burger Records, which recently announced it would be shutting down entirely. “For so long I viewed [our relationship] as toxic and not something valid enough to share, but now I know that what I actually experienced was emotional abuse and sexual coercion by someone in a position of power over me,” she wrote.
The post, which details multiple instances of sexual coercion when Night was 16 and 17 years old and Armstrong was 22, was made in response to a statement by the band in support of Burger Records’ alleged victims, which she called “unbelievably hypocritical”. “The band’s delusional positioning of themselves as woke feminists is not only triggering for me as a victim, but is complete bullshit and needs to be called out,” she added.
The post includes descriptions of Armstrong pressuring, shaming, and gaslighting Night into sexual situations after he invited the Regrettes on tour. “From the beginning, he would constantly make ‘jokes’ on tour about how we would have to follow his rules on tour because he was the headliner,” she wrote. “The professional power dynamic had made its way into all aspects of our relationship.”
Yesterday (July 21), Armstrong responded to the accusations in a statement posted on SWMRS’s Instagram account. “I want to address Lydia’s Instagram post about our relationship,” he wrote. “While I don’t agree with some of the things she said about me, it’s important that she be allowed to say them and that she be supported for speaking out. I respect her immensely and fully accept that I failed her as a partner.”
He added: “I was selfish and didn’t treat her the way she deserves to have been treated both during our relationship and in the two years since we broke up. I have apologized to her privately and I hope she can forgive me, if and when she is ready to do so. I own my mistakes and will work hard to regain the trust that I lost.”