Tool's Maynard James Keenan denies sexual assault allegations from 2000's tour
Musician Maynard James Keenan has finally responded to claims of sexual assault against him by a Twitter fan (@IWas17HeWas36) on June 22. The 'Tool' singer has denied the accusation saying that it was an untrue allegation and that he didn't respond so far because his cellphone was turned off. He tweeted, "Many thanks to those of you who saw right through this despicable false claim that only does damage to the #metoo movement," Keenan said in a tweet posted Thursday. "And shame on those of you who perpetuate this destructive clickbait. As for my delayed but un-required response, I had my phone off. You should try it.”
The 'Tool,' 'A Perfect Circle,' and 'Puscifer' vocalist was accused of trying to rape the fan in the tour bus. At the time, she claimed to be 17 years of age and the singer was 36 at the time. The incident is alleged to have occurred in 2000. The singer at the time was on tour with 'A Perfect Circle' and was the opening act for 'Nine Inch Nails'.
In a series of tweets, she had revealed her side of the story, saying, "He led me to a bed in the back on the bus and closed the door. He put on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I decided to watch a few minutes and at least have a weird story to tell my boyfriend later. Yes, 17-year-olds can be naïve. This is why older men target teenage girls. He started rubbing my neck. At this point, I fell silent. He talked about the film, Johnny Depp, and Hunter S. Thompson while he started taking his pants off. All I could do was sit there, looking at the movie, unable to move.
"I froze so he had to move my body into a missionary position. He pulled off my cargo pants. He forced himself in- there was no attempt at “warming up”. I mention this because this wasn’t about sex. This was about raping me as fast as he could. He penetrated my vagina without a condom, moving rapidly, while I lay there frozen in a stunned silence. If I sound clinical it’s because it has been a long time and I have tried to push down any sort of fear or shame that comes with a rape. There was no consent made. I was not high. I was clean. He did not seduce me, he forced me, quickly taking advantage of my paralyzed state."
While Keenan may have refused the claims, after this initial revelation a lot of other stories of inappropriate advances came pouring out, that involved him. But while many confessed to having been creeped out by him, there were fans who refuse to believe any of these stories. One fan wrote "I haven’t been backstage since he’s been married, so I don’t know if his groupie whoring has continued. I don’t think he should be demonized for this behavior. Yeah, it sucks that he doesn’t want to meet the casual fan to have them gush over his music, but it doesn’t make me want to listen to them less."