Wavves’ Nathan Williams Addresses Max Bemis Allegations Ahead Of Joint Album Release

Over the weekend, Say Anything's Max Bemis canceled a run of solo concerts after a 17-year-old girl posted allegations of inappropriate interactions on the Say Anything subreddit, sharing screenshots of what appears to be months of sexually charged exchanges over text and social media. In announcing that cancellation, Say Anything's social media accounts cited "the need to prioritize his mental health and personal well-being." The allegations have come out just before the release of Cherry Soda, a new collaborative album from Say Anything and Wavves. Now, Wavves frontman Nathan Williams has weighed in.On the Say Anything subreddit, someone shared screenshots of Nathan Williams talking about the situation on Discord, saying:Stressful was an understatement the guy is a fucking idiot...In a personal level I don't know the guy I've hung out with him 3 times when he was on the studio on a professional level he was awfulThat being said it's in acceptable so it is what it isI'm about to lose 200k bc of this gross loser but money can't save your soulSo into debt we go...I don't want to be associated with the guy so it's as simple as thatWhatever I lose doesn't matter at that pointThe real thing that hurts is he spent 3 days in the studio and I spent 11 monthsAnd the record is good and now I'll say itI made it by myselfIt's in all ways just a wavves recordWhen asked whether the album might be released without Bemis' contributions, Williams posted:Yeah there are conversations about itIt wouldn't be hardHe barely wrote anythingWould delay the release butYeahMaybe I wouldn't lose my savings if I can at least figure that outIssue here is10,000 records already pressedWilliams also posted a photo of what appears to be him locking Bemis in a sleeper hold, writing:Since no one will ever see itThis was the cover of alt pressIf the picture doesn't tell you the story of how I felt about him I dunno what willObviously now this isn't coming out soFuck itThe "now this isn't coming out" part seems to be in reference to the Alternative Press cover story, not necessarily the album. Last month, Veeps, the company founded by Good Charlotte's Joel and Benji Madden, gutted Alternative Press, along with its other publications Brooklyn Vegan, Revolver, and Goldmine. Yesterday, though, Goldmine still promoted a cover story on Wavves. In the excerpt published online, Williams doesn't mention Bemis.On Instagram yesterday, Wavves posted about the situation and reiterated some of the same points from that Discord chat:yeah Ive seen it. not sure what to say but fuck max. fuck say anything. I'm sorry yall. I Spent 11 months making this record and max spent 4 days so I dunno exactly what I'm supposed to do. I'm sorry guys.The fate of the Cherry Soda album, which was scheduled for a Sep. 18 release, appears to be up in the air. Stereogum has reached out to Nathan Williams for clarification, and we will update if we hear back.