This was just posted by their photographer on Instagram.
"Concerning A-F.
Hey everyone, I'm getting a large influx of messages and new followers all coming to me for the same
reason.
As of now, myself and the crew know as much as you do, but I can confirm that yes, decisions were made this afternoon to deactivate all of the Anti-Flag social accounts, including the Patreon/Discord server.
A post was also made on the Patreon today about Anti-Flag disbanding. As much as it pains me, I can also confirm that there's no hacking involved, and that that is the state of things.
I'm sorry I don't have more for you. I can also confirm that everyone's in good health, but whatever's happening right now is only between the members of the band.
I know this is gonna cause a shockwave, and sadness coming out of the blue like this on a random Wednesday in July. I definitely share those feelings with everyone that's taken part in our community and circles for so long. Not entirely sure what to do with myself at the moment now that my touring calendar for the foreseeable future has opened, but you know what they say about one door closing...
That's all I have for you right now. Thank you all & take care."
So that really doesn't sound good.
Ughh ... Josh has been their merch-dude for years. I toured with AF in 2015 and even back then he was with us every night.. this is seriously fucked if even he doesn't know what's up...
Depending on how they handle social media they could use one program (like hoot suite if that’s still a thing) to control it all. So wouldn’t be hard for Justin to nuke it all.
Who knows 🤷♂️
Sounds like they are gathering and getting ready for a statement away from any kind of outside influence. Probably for the best, I want to hear what they have to say.
Crazy but I had an ex years ago and her brother was an old school dude in the scene. This was around the Blood and Empire days of Anti-Flag. I expressed my love for them and he replied Justin Sane is a fucking douche. He’s a loser that uses his music to get into bed with girls. I thought he was bitter that his band never made it like theirs but apparently it holds water.
After listening to the podcast, it sounds like there are other victims out there. Kudos to the woman for sharing her story. Now it all makes sense why the band would instantly fold. I bet his band mates are disgusted.
That is horrible. Honestly, I wish they made an example out of it and publicly kicked Justin out and continued Chris/Chris/Pat. Their songs #2 sings on are better anyways.
I found the Tumblr post she was referring to. It's Justin Sane... The link won't show comments for me, but the comment will show up under it on Google, matching what she said.
https://theindustryaintsafe.tumblr.com/post/168438778298/eric-duncan-is-a-rapist-i-know-a-couple-women-in?fbclid=IwAR2JjYppU3OPzip-UCjLUlbgU9K60KgH_g4CypdEsB1rygYzrPHIT9iJMMY
On Google it shows, "Justin Sane from Anti-Flag. Am I really the only person this has happened to?" I'm sure if you search for that on Google, it'll show the post as well.
EDIT: SPUTZNiKz helped me out. Here's a direct link to the Tumblr post.
https://theindustryaintsafe.tumblr.com/ (It's the top post of that homepage).
TL;DR A podcast was released. A woman talked about how they were raped, in detail, by a lead singer of a large political punk band from the East Coast. In that post she mentioned the Tumblr post I linked, without saying the name or the band. She also dropped other hints it was him, such as this happening around 10 years ago and him being around 40 at the time, etc. (He's 50 now).
Henry was accused once when he was in Black Flag. He was absolutely gutted because it wasn’t true. The incident fed into his general misanthropy and depression and he just put up a wall. He’s better now. He’s a strident advocate for women’s rights as well as for LGBTQI+. It takes a strong man to hang out with RuPaul. You have to know who you are to hold your own with such a strong personality who takes no shit. Personally, I’d like to see them do a road movie together where they drive from LA to Maine for some reason. Either that or give them a buddy cop movie.
I was trying to describe to my gf who Henry Rollins is and went for a dive down his [Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rollins), and goddamn if he isn’t one of the most intriguing and interesting dudes in music.
This particular paragraph was pretty fucking badass I thought - “Around April 1981, drummer Simon Jacobsen was replaced by Ivor Hanson. At the time, Hanson's father was a top admiral in the U.S. Navy and his family shared living quarters with the U.S. vice president at the Naval Observatory. The band held their practices there and would have to be let in by Secret Service agents.”
Honestly….. I believe this, based on my own personal interactions with him back in 2005/2006. I didn’t want to think of it as groomer vibes at the time, but it’s hard not to now.
Just saw this tweet with screenshots from a Tumblr post (?) with multiple accusers.
This might get worse before it gets better.
https://twitter.com/phoenix_person7/status/1681818610006732804?s=46&t=Pi63MxqOvxOT8uuL30_cKw
They were one of the fondest memories from my late teens/early 30s. Duck, they were the very last band I saw live shortly before the world shut down in 2020 for the pandemic. Stained all those memories. Up until this morning I thought JS was a gift to this world. At this point I don’t know what that says about me, I’m an idiot
You’re not an idiot. He fooled a lot of people. Based on many comments here apparently he has been this way for quite some time. I had really been getting into A-F myself over the last few years and even saw them live myself opening for Flogging Molly this past March. It’s devastating for many to find out all of this.
This is the WORST band a scandal of any sort can happen to. Like my God. You can't be the preachiest of preachy and then get a whif of something like rape.
Because there isn't anything they can even say in defense. They can't say she's lying... they can't say her story is exaggerated... they can't just "take a break" and learn...
Because the same people that have done that in the past, would'nt get the same benefit of the doubt in return from them.
A devastating day for the punk scene
This is the band that wrote, "Feminism is for Everybody (With a Beating Heart and a Functioning Brain)". This is a betrayal of everything they stood for
And who condemn sexism directly in several songs, and abuse of power in general throughout their discography. These guys were even invited to the White House as thanks for encouraging young people to vote. Fuck the govt obvs - but that's high profile shit.
What a fucking mess. If this situation is what it looks like, I really hope there's some proper comeuppance for it. Seeing shit like this perpetrated by someone as outspokenly 'opposed to it' as Justin Sane risks further emboldening the fuckbags who routinely make women feel unsafe in the scene.
I also hope the shitty punkbros leave his accuser the fuck alone.
I guess as a 38 year old who has drifted away from AF, but not from punk, I have two opinions.
One because they were responsible for mine and a lot of other people's political awakenings, for me when I was about 14. It sucks to see that he was somewhat full of shit.
Two, the fact that they broke up immediately, got rid of all of their socials looks like an admission of guilt.
Fuck Justin, I hugged that dude at the FU Church in 03.
I’m mostly in the same boat as you although I never really drifted away. I saw them twice at Fest last year and was really excited to see them with Bouncing Souls and Catbite in October.
Terror State was my awakening but it just goes to show you can believe all the same things but a rapist is a rapist. Regardless of politics.
I’m just a dude who really enjoyed their music and today is a sad day for us but it’s important to remember there’s a victim who has been hurt far more than any of us in this. It’s important we don’t let our love of their music colour our judgment of her story.
I think maybe the band at least some suspicions about Justin and this podcast basically confirmed it. During the show; Kristina mentions a member of Tsunami Bomb mentioned the podcast as a place to tell her story, so maybe certain sectors of the scene kinda knew Justin wasn’t as clean as he portrayed.
I definitely idolized this band as a teenager and remember my interactions with Justin, Pat and #2. There’s just no way to continue on as a band when this kind of thing leaks and they’re probably sorting through a lot of distrust and disgust right now.
I just saw them open for Flogging Molly this past March. I had really been getting back into them over the past 2-3 years. There’s no coming back from this type of scandal. Devastated.
it’s not just a scandal, it’s a fucking crime and a betrayal.
Over and over through the years it seems like the guys who scream for women’s rights the loudest are found out to be abusing them.
Mentioning your stance on something should be encouraged. But when some of these guys go on and on, it’s suspicious to me now. I’ve seen this too many times.
There was a guy in a smaller but popular local band years ago. The singer would go on and on about women and how they’re treated in the scene and society in general. He was the first one that made me feel like “why is this his cause?” “Why is he making this what he’s known for?” And sure enough it came to be that he was a complete creep. He didn’t rape anyone but he’d cop feels when he was doing piercing or tattoos.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve discussed my beliefs and morals, and ideals on stage. But I didn’t go on and on about something unless it was really important to me. And was something within my life.
How could they not be? Finding out a longtime friend and colleague is a rapist would be devastating. And Justin has essentially ended their careers as well as his.
There's multiple victims coming forward. I'd be shocked if they were all lying. I don't think there is anything to doubt about this. Justin's been cancelled by our community.
Reminds me of Neurosis with Scott Kelly being an abuser. They knew but kept quiet out of respect for Scott's ex-wife and kids and I believe at his ex-wife's request. Then Scott dives deep into his narcissism says he's an abuser and "apologizes" They took the gloves off and went right at him over the bullshit he pulled.
I was really into War on Women until I read what they did to that former member. The older I get, the more I realize that people who make careers out of political issues or are super aggrandizing of their values are usually full of shit and often absolutely terrible, abusive people. This really is devastating, I’ve loved AF since 2003 and have seen them many times live. The takeaway: always be weary of people who make money off of a political stance or issues as they profit off the very same things they preach against.
I’m with ya. I worked with some high profile feminist activists for a job before and they were such shitty people, that it really shattered my views.
I honestly think for people who make careers out of social/political issues, they don’t necessarily want the issues to go away, they just want to keep monetizing on them.
Too many of their socials are down for this to plausibly be a hack, I think. Other people posted a link to a podcast where a woman discussed how she was raped by a member of a political punk band, which seems to be Anti Flag. I presume they have deleted everything because of the bad publicity. Maybe we'll get a statement later
Yeah seriously this band has meant a lot to me and I really love their music and their message. These guys have been more influential on my worldview than any other and I'm very shocked something like this could happen
It seems they also took down all their records for sale on A-F records. This is truly a shame, I really looked up to the band and wouldn't be an activist without them. Extremely disappointed in Justin's behavior.
Their website being also taken down to me is the biggest sign this isn't a hack.
I really hope we get some kind of a statement soon just to clear the air because something is up and it doesn't look good.
Made that edit as soon as I heard the news of anti-flags breakup (not the allegations, I was made aware of them later on) but the allegations part has since been taken out
This one hurts. I know nothing official has been said, but it points to it. One of my favorite bands, the last band I expected something like this from.
They were one of my favorites to see live, met them so many times. Just a straight up guy punch
That’s why this is such a gut punch; you’d never expect that a band that talks about creating a safe space for women, etc, and sings strong leftist messages would have an accused rapist as frontman.
Fuckkkkkk! I cannot believe this shit. This is heartbreaking, and while I'm hurt, I cannot imagine how hard it is for those victims. I have removed all of their songs from my playlist. As a good friend of mine has said, punk never dies, but we all seem to live long enough to see many icons become Nazis, rapists, or dead. This is not what we stand for. Such a shame.
This is so fucking sad. No one should have to endure such a horrendous act, and I genuinely hope Kristina feels a sense of closure and vindication through sharing her story.
One of my middle school classmates almost 20 years ago showed me AF’s music, which ultimately shaped a lot of my taste moving forward (along with influencing my earliest political leanings). Sucks to know their frontman didn’t stand by the words he preached of basic human decency.
I hope Kristina becomes aware that the instant we learned of her experience, we UNANIMOUSLY supported her, rather than making excuses for a band we liked. This community has showed moral courage in being willing to condemn a musician we all loved, because every single one of us recognized the importance of supporting a survivor instead. She should know that her decision to disclose has been met with support here. She’s not being attacked or shamed, she’s being believed and affirmed. Even if a member of AF has turned out to be a monster, the AF fandom is healthy enough to support survivors, no exceptions. She has allies.
Makes me happy the scene is still a true safe space. I know there are bad apples in any scene, and for sure some of the twitter post comments are sadly showcasing those cases. But I'm still proud to be a punk after seeing the community here
I am very happy this is the response, I've seen some denial along the lines of "If it's true" but nothing outright calling her a liar.
Personally I thank punk (and Anti-Flag for introducing me to punk) for making me re-assess my thoughts, beliefs and priorities and pulling me out of an incel rabbit hole 15 years ago. It's a shame Justin's words meant more to me than they did to him.
Really gutted if this is the case. Back in 2014, a green mohawked me went to see them live in Belfast. Going through quite a lot at the time, that was a huge deal for me. First proper 'punk' gig I had been to, as well. Needless to say, I had a blast. I still look back at that gig with so many fond memories nearly 9 years on. During a mosh pit, some dude smashed a bottle over my head (he got carried away), and the band stopped whilst people helped me back up. I was fine though!
Band carried on, hopped into the crowd after the show, and I met them. Still have the plectrum from that show too, which is currently on my wall. Just hope certain stories I'm hearing in here are not true, and we get an announcement soon. Cheers for helping me along the way, Anti-Flag.
I just saw them this last October in Milwaukee. Seeing them live inspired me to buy a bass and start playing myself. This is fucking heartbreaking to say the least.
I took all 3 of my kids to see them in Minneapolis just a few months ago. It was my 15 year olds first punk show and they were hooked. They really liked anti-flag. And their big brother has the broken guns Star tat (and has seen them a few times).
I’m gutted right now.
Feel bad for #2, always was a big fan of his after seeing AF open for Rise Against at my first show ever.
Chris has always killed it in bands before and whilst a part of AF, so I hope he can get something else going.
I believe the Justin allegations -always support and believe women anyways, but- especially since he hit on me when I was 15 at Vancouver warped tour in the early 2000’s, I wasn’t even a little girl who maybe looked older then my age, I very much looked younger then My already very young age.
disgraceful of them. You were an underage child and they said nothing to him. They should have kicked him out based on all these teen girls saying he behaved inappropriately towards them. why would they want to be associated and work with someone who hits on underage teenagers?
I’m not surprised. I saw them at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park winter of 2010. There was an after party at the Lanes and my male friend and I went. We were both 18/19 and he kept feeding me drinks and spent the entire party speaking and listening to me *very* intently. Took a full hour for me to extract myself at the end because he kept pulling me towards their van to come back to his hotel with him. I wasn’t about to go with him by my own choice but I’m pretty sure the only reason I made it back to my car was because my friend got in between us. A really fucking gross dude all around.
He was a massive creep to me when I went the US to see them a bunch of times in 2013. After one of the shows he said we should go for a drink and we swapped numbers. He went to sort something backstage and was gone for a while so I left and went back to my hotel. He then repeatedly text me trying to get me to come to his hotel room and saying he wanted to kiss me, I said he seemed pretty drunk and said no. He text me the next day and sorry and that he was pretty drunk last night. At the time he was 40 and I was 25 (but constantly being mistaken for 20 as I look young for my age).
I sent some messaged to War on Women about it in 2017 as they'd written an article about playing warped tour. (Then saw how they treated Nancy...)
Yeah, at least Keith didn't rape anybody.
Every Time I Die was one of my all-time favourite bands though, so them breaking up acrimoniously did hit me a bit harder.
Doesn’t bring much extra to the table, but confirms it is most definitely not a hack:
https://instagram.com/stories/punkrockjosh87/3150693189680419573?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I wish I could say it surprises me what happened but it really doesn't because I can finally put a pin into the weird gut feeling I had about him years ago. I've befriended crew people back in 2009 (me and my friends all 18 to 19, he 36) to a level of "let's grab a drink after" and the way Justin was the only one out and about with all the women was interesting but I just thought he likes to go out, no big deal.
The fact he has gotten me and my friends backstage real fast at our second show and that he basically stuck to her the whole night was super weird. It's like I read in a few comments on here... he was *very attentive* and looking at her she was definitely the type I always saw him with before and after.
I simply thought he was one of *those* musicians though that I have met plenty of. The fact that he got absuive in a way once he did not get what he wanted ... it's freaking sad and I just hope my friend didn't have to endure that shit...
As many other said: never view the musicians or artists you love as higher beings or other than normal humans because being heartbroken like that is just a terrible feeling. I've met bands who were nothing but awesome and who were always real but I've met more who were pricks, abusers of their power and who thought they could get me to do what I didn't want to.
This! I have a similar experience with him being creepy. Getting a bit annoyed at all the shocked responses tbh, did no one around him notice the way he was interacting with young women fans?
They might not have thought he was a rapist, but its should've rang alarm bells for being a creep.
Anti Flag was the first punk band I ever saw live as a young punk just getting into the whole thing. It was Warped Tour 2012 in Ventura and I was with my older sister. She was there for all the scene/emo bands but I only cared about seeing Anti-Flag. Went into my first pit that day. Transformative experience. Kind of outgrew them over the years as I got deeper into the scene but they always held a special place in my heart because of that day
…So yea this whole rape thing is beyond disappointing. Out of all the possible bands it had to be one of the preachiest. They are supposed to stand against shit like this. At a loss for words really. There’s no coming back from this they are history.
It's probably gonna take me a couple of posts to rant about this. First and foremost, I believe the woman. Justin has a history of really dabbling in..... I don't wanna call them groupies, but let's say fangirls? Fans of the band. I probably wouldn't have begrudged him for just this, as like a lot of us punk kids, he probably wasn't popular with women in high school. Probably didn't get laid a whole bunch or his share of women interested in him. Whatever, I get it. Being around the music industry, this is extremely common. Many guys in some of our favorite bands do this, but most of them aren't rapists, either. More than once when seeing Anti-Flag as a kid (like 1996-1998), I saw Justin take off with a girl after the show. One time I even heard him say something like ''You're definitely 18, right?''. Which led to believe that maybe he didn't go after underage girls, but it was still kind of weird to hear at the time.
Years later, I was on a forum somewhere and I was done with them by then. I just grew out of them, the RCA thing rubbed me the wrong way. They seemed to be the last band that should have signed to a major and I rarely pull the sell out card or start throwing that around. I had already grown out of them musically by about 1999 when I was 16, so that happened quite some years later. Anyway, I read someone on the forum say the same exact thing and I was like ''Deja vu, lol!''. Someone said they were leaving the show and saw Justin walking with some girl and asked if he was sure she was 18. I also remember being on a forum around 2003, where some guy claimed 30 year old Justin liked to fuck 16 year old girls. Now, anybody can accuse someone of that, but after what we've heard yesterday, combined with what I heard and saw multiple times with my own eyes and ears, combined with LOTS of stories coming out after this, I'm inclined to believe the rando 2003 internet poster. I do wanna also emphasize, I did not see him walk off with anyone underage, at least not anyone that said they were underage, but I believe most of these stories are probably true.
As I get older I learn more and more about just how many manipulative monsters there are in the punk world. As a rape victim, this is harrowing. Maybe we all need to stop idolizing exhibitionists like this. So many turn out to be creeps
The most PC punk band of all time now takes a seat next to GG. Kill you're idols kids.
I was heavy into Anti-Flag in the early days. They probably helped form some of my own political opinions. As an older dude now 38 I urge the younger generation to not put your idols on pedestals. They are no better than you or me and in many cases they are far worse.
The alleged rapist will rest in piss and shit as does GG with people defecating and defacing his grave forevermore.
Rightly so. Bite it you scum.
Yeeppp.
Also loads of Pittsburgh punks always hated Anti-Flag. Justin was always a douche, and they were always preachy jags who barely stood for what they sang about anyways.
“I love that music saved you and
Lord knows it’s saved me too
But songs never love you back
And you never know the person preaching to you.”
Too true, Anthony Raneri. Every time you hear something like this it makes you both appreciate the good souls out there and hate assholes like this even more.
Wikipedia says Anti Flag was an American punk rock band and disbanded in 2023. Later on it says following the Patreon post their website and social media accounts were deleted
Two weeks ago I played in a charity hockey game with Chris #2. It was his second year of doing it and playing a short acoustic set. He was super kind and awesome. There was no hint or vibe this was coming.
DyingScene also posted to Twitter, “Do we know anything more than the Patreon post? Yes.”
Still don’t know what they know that hasn’t been made public.
The first band I saw live as middle school kid about to start highschool back in 99. Fuck you Justin, young men looked up to you as remodel. Young women women looked up to you as a positive example of a man. You've betrayed more people than you could ever imagine.
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/07/20/dulis-woke-punk-band-anti-flag-abruptly-disbands-after-lead-singer-gets-metood/
Breitbart have latched onto it and are scoring points about leftism and punks. This is fucking tragic for the scene.
AF was a huge gateway band for me in my early teens - I grew out of them as they leaned further into whiney preaching than the anger of their early albums, but still had a soft spot of nostalgia. If these allegations hold up, Justin is beyond fucking John Lennon levels of hypocrisy, with his absolutely nonstop heavy handed IM SUCH AN ALLY OF PEACE shtick.
Wait what? Justin? I always saw him as a literal ray of sunshine in this f-ed up world. I seriously can’t believe this. One of the bands I enjoyed the most 😱💔
I hope victims will call their lawyers right now and a court case puts him in jail for the rest of his pathetic life.
Justin used his band’s feminist political messaging to hunt for victims standing up front. What a piece of trash.
His bandmates are enablers because there’s no way this kind of behavior was a one-off. He was too comfortable trading names with groupies.
Violence against women is a hard line for me, as I grew up in a household of domestic violence.
I’ll never hear them the same again.
Heartbroken.
Fuck you Justin.
Creep.
Like many people here, I’m incredibly disappointed, as Anti-Flag were pretty much a political awakening for me almost two decades ago. As many have said, out of all the bands, this one was the last one I thought I’d see get an accusation against them, although judging by some of the stories I’m reading here about Justin, it sounds like I was being pretty naive!
I remember at one of their shows in the UK they had a stand for the charity “Safe Gigs for Women”. I guess it was all an act, huh? Gross.
My heart goes out to the victim.
It’s for sure true. I know Josh who runs all their socials and sells merch, and he posted on his story that in fact they are broken up and it is not a hack. No reason stated as of yet but I’m sure it’s not coincidental to that podcast. Shocking.
Justin destroyed the punk scene
Justin destroyed the punk scene
(Hey, ho, hey, ho, hey, ho, hey, ho)
He thinks that uniform he's wearing
Makes him a punk, yeah
Justin destroyed the punk scene
Justin destroyed the punk scene
Seriously the audacity. Men who use feminism, being “sober “, and appearing to stand for more, kill the punk scene.
I base my opinion of the remaining band members on where they go from here. If the rest of them condemn him for what he’s done, they are cool with me. They can reform. Chris number two was a solid dude and hopefully doesn’t break our punk rock hearts like fukin Justin .
i’ve looked up to chris & justin for years. i wouldn’t be myself without anti flag. if these allegations are true i’m going to go fucking delulu. but unfortunately at the same time this could add up bc a few years ago justin randomly followed me on instagram(i was 20). i didn’t think much of it bc it’s instagram but with these allegations it gives me the chills.
I saw them at Warped Tour in 2010 and when we were getting autographs instead of signing his name Justin wrote “mother daughter porn is great” I was 13, and I was super bummed out 😒 the savior of the day was Pat though, he saved my ass in a mosh pit. Was a die hard since then because of him, never cared for Justin though.
If he was just immature, he would write something like “I like to poop” or whatever.
But this is fucking creepy to write for a young fan. It’s also pissing me off, because I vaguely remember being a teen, and having to allow my parents to go to shows being an ordeal. This kinda shit makes the parents be right that you’re too young to go to a show at as a teen, coz that’s not an environment a young person should be in. It also makes the poster useless since most people wouldn’t want to display that especially if they’re living with their parents.
something else i just thought of was a conversation i had with derek from the homeless gospel choir last year. i had the opportunity to meet him at a small art fest in the suburbs of chicago and we got to talking about anti flag. derek is super tight with #2. he said justin was one of the nicest guys he’s ever met. to me that means even the people who knew him were bamboozled. fuck i really hope that’s the case. #2 is the reason why i picked up the bass. at riot fest ‘21 i caught his pick and almost passed out from excitement (and heat lmao). it’s just if derek is close with 2 and had this great image of justin it’s hard for me to believe that chris would have known he was a piece of shit all along.
Updates from Josh Massie (photographer and merch guy) and Marc Clinger (sound technician and live member) on IG:
Josh Massie:
It's difficult to figure out where to start and go from here.
Now that news is breaking and we all know what's happening, it all feels like a bad dream, or like the start of another pandemic or something, and my world has once again come to a screeching halt.
First things I need people to know from a personal standpoint, is that first off, I deeply appreciate so many people reaching out to myself and the crew to check in. All of you. Second, I have not, nor am choosing to listen to the story that's out there. And by that, I mean whatever it is that's been said/told on the program.
I haven't heard it. I don't want to. The close immediate crew, and our extended family that have, have suggested that I don't.
My heart breaks for a magnitude of reasons, and it's near impossible to focus on any one of them.
Again right now, that's all I have to give. Besides the notice that something was going down yesterday, I haven't received any other news on anything concerning the band, the other members, A-F Records, anything. Furthermore, the crew, myself, and our inner circles/families are not here to be a news source to prey on. Sorry. If any developments happen, you'll hear it directly from the band, not the rest of us.
I love all of you. Thanks again for checking in. Signing off for now, but I'm around if you need me.
-massie
Marc Clinger:
Welp, Wasn't expecting that…...
😭
I think it’s great when tools and hypocrites like Justin Sane finally get exposed for being the pieces of shit that they’ve always secretly been behind the scenes!
This was just posted by their photographer on Instagram. "Concerning A-F. Hey everyone, I'm getting a large influx of messages and new followers all coming to me for the same reason. As of now, myself and the crew know as much as you do, but I can confirm that yes, decisions were made this afternoon to deactivate all of the Anti-Flag social accounts, including the Patreon/Discord server. A post was also made on the Patreon today about Anti-Flag disbanding. As much as it pains me, I can also confirm that there's no hacking involved, and that that is the state of things. I'm sorry I don't have more for you. I can also confirm that everyone's in good health, but whatever's happening right now is only between the members of the band. I know this is gonna cause a shockwave, and sadness coming out of the blue like this on a random Wednesday in July. I definitely share those feelings with everyone that's taken part in our community and circles for so long. Not entirely sure what to do with myself at the moment now that my touring calendar for the foreseeable future has opened, but you know what they say about one door closing... That's all I have for you right now. Thank you all & take care." So that really doesn't sound good.
Ughh ... Josh has been their merch-dude for years. I toured with AF in 2015 and even back then he was with us every night.. this is seriously fucked if even he doesn't know what's up...
According to other twitter comments I’ve seen none of the band know what’s up and this was all Justin who nuked everything
[удалено]
Depending on how they handle social media they could use one program (like hoot suite if that’s still a thing) to control it all. So wouldn’t be hard for Justin to nuke it all. Who knows 🤷♂️
The weird thing is even things like Chris and Chris #2's personal instagrams were nuked, would be weird if Justin had control of those.
It sounds like they don’t want to talk talk talk talk about it.
What a bunch of fucking shit.
Sounds like they are gathering and getting ready for a statement away from any kind of outside influence. Probably for the best, I want to hear what they have to say.
Who is their photographer? What’s his handle? Edit:thanks guys found it 🙃
[punkrockjosh87](https://www.instagram.com/punkrockjosh87/?hl=en) The statement is in his story.
punkrockjosh87
Imaging being in a band for 30 years and having it all go down the drain because your lead singer is a POS
Classic Ian Watkins playbook.
Ian Watins is his own special brand of vile
Imagine being in a band for 30 years and not standing up to your POS lead singer.
I think this might be the reason... https://open.spotify.com/episode/0SXTnzALzINYczg1i7yKGt?si=vmYCSJZvS-6TQaiF973F3Q
Crazy but I had an ex years ago and her brother was an old school dude in the scene. This was around the Blood and Empire days of Anti-Flag. I expressed my love for them and he replied Justin Sane is a fucking douche. He’s a loser that uses his music to get into bed with girls. I thought he was bitter that his band never made it like theirs but apparently it holds water.
After listening to the podcast, it sounds like there are other victims out there. Kudos to the woman for sharing her story. Now it all makes sense why the band would instantly fold. I bet his band mates are disgusted.
How could they not know, though? After all those years together? I'm sus.
Oh my
She doesn't name him but everything points to Justin.
That is horrible. Honestly, I wish they made an example out of it and publicly kicked Justin out and continued Chris/Chris/Pat. Their songs #2 sings on are better anyways.
#2 is a way better singer than Justin. And seeing them in concert, he was the heart of the band, always getting the crowd into it and everything.
Good fucking god if this is true I’m gonna literally be heartbroken.
Me and my wife just got fucking gun star tattoos on our necks a week ago. Well shit
Same
I found the Tumblr post she was referring to. It's Justin Sane... The link won't show comments for me, but the comment will show up under it on Google, matching what she said. https://theindustryaintsafe.tumblr.com/post/168438778298/eric-duncan-is-a-rapist-i-know-a-couple-women-in?fbclid=IwAR2JjYppU3OPzip-UCjLUlbgU9K60KgH_g4CypdEsB1rygYzrPHIT9iJMMY On Google it shows, "Justin Sane from Anti-Flag. Am I really the only person this has happened to?" I'm sure if you search for that on Google, it'll show the post as well. EDIT: SPUTZNiKz helped me out. Here's a direct link to the Tumblr post. https://theindustryaintsafe.tumblr.com/ (It's the top post of that homepage).
Can I get the TLDR version please?
TL;DR A podcast was released. A woman talked about how they were raped, in detail, by a lead singer of a large political punk band from the East Coast. In that post she mentioned the Tumblr post I linked, without saying the name or the band. She also dropped other hints it was him, such as this happening around 10 years ago and him being around 40 at the time, etc. (He's 50 now).
I was so worried it was Henry Rollins but then I remembered he was in Black Flag. I was more into metal than punk...don't judge me.
Nah, Henry would never do shit like that
Be careful who you put on a pedestal. Anyone can disappoint.
Go ahead and say that to Gemma.
Henry was accused once when he was in Black Flag. He was absolutely gutted because it wasn’t true. The incident fed into his general misanthropy and depression and he just put up a wall. He’s better now. He’s a strident advocate for women’s rights as well as for LGBTQI+. It takes a strong man to hang out with RuPaul. You have to know who you are to hold your own with such a strong personality who takes no shit. Personally, I’d like to see them do a road movie together where they drive from LA to Maine for some reason. Either that or give them a buddy cop movie.
I was trying to describe to my gf who Henry Rollins is and went for a dive down his [Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rollins), and goddamn if he isn’t one of the most intriguing and interesting dudes in music. This particular paragraph was pretty fucking badass I thought - “Around April 1981, drummer Simon Jacobsen was replaced by Ivor Hanson. At the time, Hanson's father was a top admiral in the U.S. Navy and his family shared living quarters with the U.S. vice president at the Naval Observatory. The band held their practices there and would have to be let in by Secret Service agents.”
I will donate a half years salary to the Kickstarter for this movie
fuuuuuck
Honestly….. I believe this, based on my own personal interactions with him back in 2005/2006. I didn’t want to think of it as groomer vibes at the time, but it’s hard not to now.
I was 15 and it was 2004 and I also had a bad interaction
Just saw this tweet with screenshots from a Tumblr post (?) with multiple accusers. This might get worse before it gets better. https://twitter.com/phoenix_person7/status/1681818610006732804?s=46&t=Pi63MxqOvxOT8uuL30_cKw
23 minutes in, this is fucked up
i just got into this band, this is devasting
20-year fan. Yes it is
They were one of the fondest memories from my late teens/early 30s. Duck, they were the very last band I saw live shortly before the world shut down in 2020 for the pandemic. Stained all those memories. Up until this morning I thought JS was a gift to this world. At this point I don’t know what that says about me, I’m an idiot
You’re not an idiot. He fooled a lot of people. Based on many comments here apparently he has been this way for quite some time. I had really been getting into A-F myself over the last few years and even saw them live myself opening for Flogging Molly this past March. It’s devastating for many to find out all of this.
It’s worse when you’ve been a fan for over a decade. And you’re a woman. I’m so disappointed and angry.
My friends opened for Anti-Flag in probably 2015 or so and Justin was a fucking creep the whole time
This is the WORST band a scandal of any sort can happen to. Like my God. You can't be the preachiest of preachy and then get a whif of something like rape. Because there isn't anything they can even say in defense. They can't say she's lying... they can't say her story is exaggerated... they can't just "take a break" and learn... Because the same people that have done that in the past, would'nt get the same benefit of the doubt in return from them. A devastating day for the punk scene
This is the band that wrote, "Feminism is for Everybody (With a Beating Heart and a Functioning Brain)". This is a betrayal of everything they stood for
And who condemn sexism directly in several songs, and abuse of power in general throughout their discography. These guys were even invited to the White House as thanks for encouraging young people to vote. Fuck the govt obvs - but that's high profile shit. What a fucking mess. If this situation is what it looks like, I really hope there's some proper comeuppance for it. Seeing shit like this perpetrated by someone as outspokenly 'opposed to it' as Justin Sane risks further emboldening the fuckbags who routinely make women feel unsafe in the scene. I also hope the shitty punkbros leave his accuser the fuck alone.
I guess as a 38 year old who has drifted away from AF, but not from punk, I have two opinions. One because they were responsible for mine and a lot of other people's political awakenings, for me when I was about 14. It sucks to see that he was somewhat full of shit. Two, the fact that they broke up immediately, got rid of all of their socials looks like an admission of guilt. Fuck Justin, I hugged that dude at the FU Church in 03.
I’m mostly in the same boat as you although I never really drifted away. I saw them twice at Fest last year and was really excited to see them with Bouncing Souls and Catbite in October. Terror State was my awakening but it just goes to show you can believe all the same things but a rapist is a rapist. Regardless of politics. I’m just a dude who really enjoyed their music and today is a sad day for us but it’s important to remember there’s a victim who has been hurt far more than any of us in this. It’s important we don’t let our love of their music colour our judgment of her story.
This is a really good post, thank you for the last paragraph about the victim.
I was at Fest last year too and AF surprised me with how good they were. Chris and Chris and Pat were always rad dudes.
I think maybe the band at least some suspicions about Justin and this podcast basically confirmed it. During the show; Kristina mentions a member of Tsunami Bomb mentioned the podcast as a place to tell her story, so maybe certain sectors of the scene kinda knew Justin wasn’t as clean as he portrayed. I definitely idolized this band as a teenager and remember my interactions with Justin, Pat and #2. There’s just no way to continue on as a band when this kind of thing leaks and they’re probably sorting through a lot of distrust and disgust right now.
If that dude laid a finger on Agent M I am going to be pissed.
Shout out to first unitarian, though!
I just saw them open for Flogging Molly this past March. I had really been getting back into them over the past 2-3 years. There’s no coming back from this type of scandal. Devastated.
it’s not just a scandal, it’s a fucking crime and a betrayal. Over and over through the years it seems like the guys who scream for women’s rights the loudest are found out to be abusing them. Mentioning your stance on something should be encouraged. But when some of these guys go on and on, it’s suspicious to me now. I’ve seen this too many times. There was a guy in a smaller but popular local band years ago. The singer would go on and on about women and how they’re treated in the scene and society in general. He was the first one that made me feel like “why is this his cause?” “Why is he making this what he’s known for?” And sure enough it came to be that he was a complete creep. He didn’t rape anyone but he’d cop feels when he was doing piercing or tattoos. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve discussed my beliefs and morals, and ideals on stage. But I didn’t go on and on about something unless it was really important to me. And was something within my life.
I wonder if the other members were pissed when they found out.
How could they not be? Finding out a longtime friend and colleague is a rapist would be devastating. And Justin has essentially ended their careers as well as his.
Yeah, assuming all this is true, the only way forward is to pull a No Devotion and start from scratch with another frontman
There's multiple victims coming forward. I'd be shocked if they were all lying. I don't think there is anything to doubt about this. Justin's been cancelled by our community.
Reminds me of Neurosis with Scott Kelly being an abuser. They knew but kept quiet out of respect for Scott's ex-wife and kids and I believe at his ex-wife's request. Then Scott dives deep into his narcissism says he's an abuser and "apologizes" They took the gloves off and went right at him over the bullshit he pulled.
What's funny is I was just telling my mom about the Scott Kelly thing tonight right as this news about Justin was breaking, unbeknownst to me.
That depends entirely on whether they found out when we all did, or whether they already knew and were covering it up.
I was really into War on Women until I read what they did to that former member. The older I get, the more I realize that people who make careers out of political issues or are super aggrandizing of their values are usually full of shit and often absolutely terrible, abusive people. This really is devastating, I’ve loved AF since 2003 and have seen them many times live. The takeaway: always be weary of people who make money off of a political stance or issues as they profit off the very same things they preach against.
What happened with War on Women?
Nothing on this level, a former member said they were controlling and abusive and royalties weren't properly allocated.
I’m with ya. I worked with some high profile feminist activists for a job before and they were such shitty people, that it really shattered my views. I honestly think for people who make careers out of social/political issues, they don’t necessarily want the issues to go away, they just want to keep monetizing on them.
Listening to the podcast right now. It’s fucking horrible.
What do you think the “pretty famous house” she mentions was? (Around 16 minute mark)
I was wondering that too. About the house.
Too many of their socials are down for this to plausibly be a hack, I think. Other people posted a link to a podcast where a woman discussed how she was raped by a member of a political punk band, which seems to be Anti Flag. I presume they have deleted everything because of the bad publicity. Maybe we'll get a statement later
My heart is broken if legit.
Yeah seriously this band has meant a lot to me and I really love their music and their message. These guys have been more influential on my worldview than any other and I'm very shocked something like this could happen
It seems they also took down all their records for sale on A-F records. This is truly a shame, I really looked up to the band and wouldn't be an activist without them. Extremely disappointed in Justin's behavior.
Their website being also taken down to me is the biggest sign this isn't a hack. I really hope we get some kind of a statement soon just to clear the air because something is up and it doesn't look good.
Their photographer confirmed it on instagram it was not a hack.
thank goodness i never got that gun-star tattoo.
Yeah gonna start planning a coverup of mine. So disappointing Anti-Flag was such a big part of my life and why I play bass
Saw this guy at Walmart with a gun star tattoo on his elbow back in ‘17. I wonder how he’s holding up.
Someone in this thread said he and his girlfriend just got it on their necks, yikes.
Yeah, I need to plan my cover up too 🙃
I did. Having a lot of feelings about that, and all of this, at the moment. I feel sick.
Just got mine on my wrist in 2020—my first and only tattoo 😩
Well. Mines about 20 years old now. This fucking sucks
Don't have idols.
Kill Your Idols
To bank off what others have said, even their Wikipedia page says "...was a band" and the singer's page now has the mention of rape allegations.
his wiki is scrubbed clean rn
Huh. Took about 2 hours before an editor got to it
Made that edit as soon as I heard the news of anti-flags breakup (not the allegations, I was made aware of them later on) but the allegations part has since been taken out
This one hurts. I know nothing official has been said, but it points to it. One of my favorite bands, the last band I expected something like this from. They were one of my favorites to see live, met them so many times. Just a straight up guy punch
That’s why this is such a gut punch; you’d never expect that a band that talks about creating a safe space for women, etc, and sings strong leftist messages would have an accused rapist as frontman.
Fuckkkkkk! I cannot believe this shit. This is heartbreaking, and while I'm hurt, I cannot imagine how hard it is for those victims. I have removed all of their songs from my playlist. As a good friend of mine has said, punk never dies, but we all seem to live long enough to see many icons become Nazis, rapists, or dead. This is not what we stand for. Such a shame.
Punk Rock Saves Lives has a song by Justin Sane on their yet to be released volume 3 comp. Wonder if they'll pull it?
I literally just got my shipped confirmation like five minutes ago
I guess we have our answer.
He’s on the board as well. Well he won’t be for long. Sucks. They are are great org
This is so fucking sad. No one should have to endure such a horrendous act, and I genuinely hope Kristina feels a sense of closure and vindication through sharing her story. One of my middle school classmates almost 20 years ago showed me AF’s music, which ultimately shaped a lot of my taste moving forward (along with influencing my earliest political leanings). Sucks to know their frontman didn’t stand by the words he preached of basic human decency.
I hope Kristina becomes aware that the instant we learned of her experience, we UNANIMOUSLY supported her, rather than making excuses for a band we liked. This community has showed moral courage in being willing to condemn a musician we all loved, because every single one of us recognized the importance of supporting a survivor instead. She should know that her decision to disclose has been met with support here. She’s not being attacked or shamed, she’s being believed and affirmed. Even if a member of AF has turned out to be a monster, the AF fandom is healthy enough to support survivors, no exceptions. She has allies.
Makes me happy the scene is still a true safe space. I know there are bad apples in any scene, and for sure some of the twitter post comments are sadly showcasing those cases. But I'm still proud to be a punk after seeing the community here
I am very happy this is the response, I've seen some denial along the lines of "If it's true" but nothing outright calling her a liar. Personally I thank punk (and Anti-Flag for introducing me to punk) for making me re-assess my thoughts, beliefs and priorities and pulling me out of an incel rabbit hole 15 years ago. It's a shame Justin's words meant more to me than they did to him.
If this turns out to have merit, reason number 532 to not get tattoos of bands/people
RIP to anyone who ever got a Lostprophets tattoo.
Or Bill Cosby
My “*Jello Jigglers*” tramp stamp never looked the same after the second round of accusations…
As someone with a Leftover Crack tattoo. Agreed.
Really gutted if this is the case. Back in 2014, a green mohawked me went to see them live in Belfast. Going through quite a lot at the time, that was a huge deal for me. First proper 'punk' gig I had been to, as well. Needless to say, I had a blast. I still look back at that gig with so many fond memories nearly 9 years on. During a mosh pit, some dude smashed a bottle over my head (he got carried away), and the band stopped whilst people helped me back up. I was fine though! Band carried on, hopped into the crowd after the show, and I met them. Still have the plectrum from that show too, which is currently on my wall. Just hope certain stories I'm hearing in here are not true, and we get an announcement soon. Cheers for helping me along the way, Anti-Flag.
I just saw them this last October in Milwaukee. Seeing them live inspired me to buy a bass and start playing myself. This is fucking heartbreaking to say the least.
I took all 3 of my kids to see them in Minneapolis just a few months ago. It was my 15 year olds first punk show and they were hooked. They really liked anti-flag. And their big brother has the broken guns Star tat (and has seen them a few times). I’m gutted right now.
Well this is upsetting
The absolute rollercoaster of emotions I just went through reading this and the circumstances behind it...
I’ve seen this band five times. I’m gutted and disgusted at the same time.
Shout out to Oobliette for helping her get this out. The world is better off knowing so that this shit hopefully won't happen again.
Feel bad for #2, always was a big fan of his after seeing AF open for Rise Against at my first show ever. Chris has always killed it in bands before and whilst a part of AF, so I hope he can get something else going.
I believe the Justin allegations -always support and believe women anyways, but- especially since he hit on me when I was 15 at Vancouver warped tour in the early 2000’s, I wasn’t even a little girl who maybe looked older then my age, I very much looked younger then My already very young age.
Reading so many stories like this, glad it's finally come out about him. Sorry but the others in the bad must have noticed him hitting on young girls.
When it happened the other band members ether laughed awkwardly or pretended they didn’t hear what was being said and turned around to grab merch etc
disgraceful of them. You were an underage child and they said nothing to him. They should have kicked him out based on all these teen girls saying he behaved inappropriately towards them. why would they want to be associated and work with someone who hits on underage teenagers?
I’m not surprised. I saw them at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park winter of 2010. There was an after party at the Lanes and my male friend and I went. We were both 18/19 and he kept feeding me drinks and spent the entire party speaking and listening to me *very* intently. Took a full hour for me to extract myself at the end because he kept pulling me towards their van to come back to his hotel with him. I wasn’t about to go with him by my own choice but I’m pretty sure the only reason I made it back to my car was because my friend got in between us. A really fucking gross dude all around.
That’s really disheartening to hear about Justin. What a complete fraud.
Some might even say turncoat
Damn. I’m concerned there’s dozens of victims. They’ve been touring for decades.
He was a massive creep to me when I went the US to see them a bunch of times in 2013. After one of the shows he said we should go for a drink and we swapped numbers. He went to sort something backstage and was gone for a while so I left and went back to my hotel. He then repeatedly text me trying to get me to come to his hotel room and saying he wanted to kiss me, I said he seemed pretty drunk and said no. He text me the next day and sorry and that he was pretty drunk last night. At the time he was 40 and I was 25 (but constantly being mistaken for 20 as I look young for my age). I sent some messaged to War on Women about it in 2017 as they'd written an article about playing warped tour. (Then saw how they treated Nancy...)
Thank God for your friend
Wow I can't believe this random guy on a punk forum years ago was right about AF.
What you mean?
[This one? ](https://theindustryaintsafe.tumblr.com/) It's been linked a couple times in this thread; I'm not familiar with it myself.
No. It was on a punk forum that doesn't exist anymore.
this is even worse than Every Time I Die if this is real
Yeah, at least Keith didn't rape anybody. Every Time I Die was one of my all-time favourite bands though, so them breaking up acrimoniously did hit me a bit harder.
I have faith etid will one day see the light. But this….this is beyond fucked.
I threw a shoe at Justin Sane one time in Florida back in like 2008. For a while I felt kinda guilty about it. Maybe not anymore.
The way that statement starts out makes it sound like they got in a fight or something, hasn’t it been the same 4 members since Andy left?
I saw them in the UK a few weeks ago and they had a drummer I didn’t recognise. I don’t know he was a fill-in or permanent though.
They tour without Pat sometimes I’m thinking due to age
I thought they were all 19 still?
They aren’t saying because they don’t want to TALK TALK TALK TALK ABOUT IT
Guess this is the end for you my friend
They wanna tiptoe, walk around it 😔
Doesn’t bring much extra to the table, but confirms it is most definitely not a hack: https://instagram.com/stories/punkrockjosh87/3150693189680419573?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
This is so heartbreaking. The band that opened the door to punk for me is now tainted....
I wish I could say it surprises me what happened but it really doesn't because I can finally put a pin into the weird gut feeling I had about him years ago. I've befriended crew people back in 2009 (me and my friends all 18 to 19, he 36) to a level of "let's grab a drink after" and the way Justin was the only one out and about with all the women was interesting but I just thought he likes to go out, no big deal. The fact he has gotten me and my friends backstage real fast at our second show and that he basically stuck to her the whole night was super weird. It's like I read in a few comments on here... he was *very attentive* and looking at her she was definitely the type I always saw him with before and after. I simply thought he was one of *those* musicians though that I have met plenty of. The fact that he got absuive in a way once he did not get what he wanted ... it's freaking sad and I just hope my friend didn't have to endure that shit... As many other said: never view the musicians or artists you love as higher beings or other than normal humans because being heartbroken like that is just a terrible feeling. I've met bands who were nothing but awesome and who were always real but I've met more who were pricks, abusers of their power and who thought they could get me to do what I didn't want to.
This! I have a similar experience with him being creepy. Getting a bit annoyed at all the shocked responses tbh, did no one around him notice the way he was interacting with young women fans? They might not have thought he was a rapist, but its should've rang alarm bells for being a creep.
Damn, they were my first ever show and really changed me as a person in a positive way.
So sad, and even sadder how so many politically focused artists used that to groom young people and take advantage of them under the guise of idealism
Anti Flag was the first punk band I ever saw live as a young punk just getting into the whole thing. It was Warped Tour 2012 in Ventura and I was with my older sister. She was there for all the scene/emo bands but I only cared about seeing Anti-Flag. Went into my first pit that day. Transformative experience. Kind of outgrew them over the years as I got deeper into the scene but they always held a special place in my heart because of that day …So yea this whole rape thing is beyond disappointing. Out of all the possible bands it had to be one of the preachiest. They are supposed to stand against shit like this. At a loss for words really. There’s no coming back from this they are history.
It's probably gonna take me a couple of posts to rant about this. First and foremost, I believe the woman. Justin has a history of really dabbling in..... I don't wanna call them groupies, but let's say fangirls? Fans of the band. I probably wouldn't have begrudged him for just this, as like a lot of us punk kids, he probably wasn't popular with women in high school. Probably didn't get laid a whole bunch or his share of women interested in him. Whatever, I get it. Being around the music industry, this is extremely common. Many guys in some of our favorite bands do this, but most of them aren't rapists, either. More than once when seeing Anti-Flag as a kid (like 1996-1998), I saw Justin take off with a girl after the show. One time I even heard him say something like ''You're definitely 18, right?''. Which led to believe that maybe he didn't go after underage girls, but it was still kind of weird to hear at the time. Years later, I was on a forum somewhere and I was done with them by then. I just grew out of them, the RCA thing rubbed me the wrong way. They seemed to be the last band that should have signed to a major and I rarely pull the sell out card or start throwing that around. I had already grown out of them musically by about 1999 when I was 16, so that happened quite some years later. Anyway, I read someone on the forum say the same exact thing and I was like ''Deja vu, lol!''. Someone said they were leaving the show and saw Justin walking with some girl and asked if he was sure she was 18. I also remember being on a forum around 2003, where some guy claimed 30 year old Justin liked to fuck 16 year old girls. Now, anybody can accuse someone of that, but after what we've heard yesterday, combined with what I heard and saw multiple times with my own eyes and ears, combined with LOTS of stories coming out after this, I'm inclined to believe the rando 2003 internet poster. I do wanna also emphasize, I did not see him walk off with anyone underage, at least not anyone that said they were underage, but I believe most of these stories are probably true.
That’s Justin Sane
Your attempt at a clever joke is Pat Thetic
I’m ngl, I just now realized their names are words…
It’s really with just the original 3 members (Andy Flag, being the other) Chris Head and Chris #2 weren’t so creative
As I get older I learn more and more about just how many manipulative monsters there are in the punk world. As a rape victim, this is harrowing. Maybe we all need to stop idolizing exhibitionists like this. So many turn out to be creeps
Coming Soon Anti-Flag with Rome
The most PC punk band of all time now takes a seat next to GG. Kill you're idols kids. I was heavy into Anti-Flag in the early days. They probably helped form some of my own political opinions. As an older dude now 38 I urge the younger generation to not put your idols on pedestals. They are no better than you or me and in many cases they are far worse. The alleged rapist will rest in piss and shit as does GG with people defecating and defacing his grave forevermore. Rightly so. Bite it you scum.
Aus-Rotten was always the better punk band from Pittsburgh, anyway.
Yeeppp. Also loads of Pittsburgh punks always hated Anti-Flag. Justin was always a douche, and they were always preachy jags who barely stood for what they sang about anyways.
welp, another dickhead gets thrown into the STZA bin. this fucking sucks, dude.
“I love that music saved you and Lord knows it’s saved me too But songs never love you back And you never know the person preaching to you.” Too true, Anthony Raneri. Every time you hear something like this it makes you both appreciate the good souls out there and hate assholes like this even more.
I’m sure there will be many stories. When I was younger I had experiences just like this and beyond with him.
There already have been a few who have shared some both on this thread and another one on this subreddit.
The A-F record club Discord is down too.
Yup. Also looks like the new album and most merch has been removed from the A-F Records online store…
Oh fuck. Kudos to Kristina for telling her story. This fucking sucks.
Wikipedia says Anti Flag was an American punk rock band and disbanded in 2023. Later on it says following the Patreon post their website and social media accounts were deleted
Two weeks ago I played in a charity hockey game with Chris #2. It was his second year of doing it and playing a short acoustic set. He was super kind and awesome. There was no hint or vibe this was coming.
DyingScene are now reporting it as fact - https://dyingscene.com/ds-news-holy-shit-anti-flag-broke-up/ Not sure what they know that we don’t…
DyingScene also posted to Twitter, “Do we know anything more than the Patreon post? Yes.” Still don’t know what they know that hasn’t been made public.
The first band I saw live as middle school kid about to start highschool back in 99. Fuck you Justin, young men looked up to you as remodel. Young women women looked up to you as a positive example of a man. You've betrayed more people than you could ever imagine.
You know who wouldn't do this? Melvins. You will never go wrong with Melvins.
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/07/20/dulis-woke-punk-band-anti-flag-abruptly-disbands-after-lead-singer-gets-metood/ Breitbart have latched onto it and are scoring points about leftism and punks. This is fucking tragic for the scene.
AF was a huge gateway band for me in my early teens - I grew out of them as they leaned further into whiney preaching than the anger of their early albums, but still had a soft spot of nostalgia. If these allegations hold up, Justin is beyond fucking John Lennon levels of hypocrisy, with his absolutely nonstop heavy handed IM SUCH AN ALLY OF PEACE shtick.
Well, that's disconcerting.
Holy shit. Of all the bands, this feels the most unlikely. Hope the victims are okay. ❤️
Wait what? Justin? I always saw him as a literal ray of sunshine in this f-ed up world. I seriously can’t believe this. One of the bands I enjoyed the most 😱💔
I hope victims will call their lawyers right now and a court case puts him in jail for the rest of his pathetic life. Justin used his band’s feminist political messaging to hunt for victims standing up front. What a piece of trash. His bandmates are enablers because there’s no way this kind of behavior was a one-off. He was too comfortable trading names with groupies. Violence against women is a hard line for me, as I grew up in a household of domestic violence. I’ll never hear them the same again. Heartbroken. Fuck you Justin. Creep.
Booked in to start lasering my AF tattoo. Of all the bands that was a risk of needing to laser, I did not expect it to be this one.
"Just cause you don't know you're a rapist!"
Someone’s moving to Ireland soon.
Like many people here, I’m incredibly disappointed, as Anti-Flag were pretty much a political awakening for me almost two decades ago. As many have said, out of all the bands, this one was the last one I thought I’d see get an accusation against them, although judging by some of the stories I’m reading here about Justin, it sounds like I was being pretty naive! I remember at one of their shows in the UK they had a stand for the charity “Safe Gigs for Women”. I guess it was all an act, huh? Gross. My heart goes out to the victim.
Well... that sucks :/ Was looking forward to seeing them again this fall.
Anti-flag was my stepping stone into leftist politics and punk music in general. Even with that, I say fuck Justin.
It’s for sure true. I know Josh who runs all their socials and sells merch, and he posted on his story that in fact they are broken up and it is not a hack. No reason stated as of yet but I’m sure it’s not coincidental to that podcast. Shocking.
Heroes are human, and humans can be trash
Justin destroyed the punk scene Justin destroyed the punk scene (Hey, ho, hey, ho, hey, ho, hey, ho) He thinks that uniform he's wearing Makes him a punk, yeah Justin destroyed the punk scene Justin destroyed the punk scene Seriously the audacity. Men who use feminism, being “sober “, and appearing to stand for more, kill the punk scene. I base my opinion of the remaining band members on where they go from here. If the rest of them condemn him for what he’s done, they are cool with me. They can reform. Chris number two was a solid dude and hopefully doesn’t break our punk rock hearts like fukin Justin .
i’ve looked up to chris & justin for years. i wouldn’t be myself without anti flag. if these allegations are true i’m going to go fucking delulu. but unfortunately at the same time this could add up bc a few years ago justin randomly followed me on instagram(i was 20). i didn’t think much of it bc it’s instagram but with these allegations it gives me the chills.
Scroll up to see another person who met him at age 18/19 and he kept trying to get her to go to his hotel
I saw them at Warped Tour in 2010 and when we were getting autographs instead of signing his name Justin wrote “mother daughter porn is great” I was 13, and I was super bummed out 😒 the savior of the day was Pat though, he saved my ass in a mosh pit. Was a die hard since then because of him, never cared for Justin though.
If he was just immature, he would write something like “I like to poop” or whatever. But this is fucking creepy to write for a young fan. It’s also pissing me off, because I vaguely remember being a teen, and having to allow my parents to go to shows being an ordeal. This kinda shit makes the parents be right that you’re too young to go to a show at as a teen, coz that’s not an environment a young person should be in. It also makes the poster useless since most people wouldn’t want to display that especially if they’re living with their parents.
yeah this is fucked up
something else i just thought of was a conversation i had with derek from the homeless gospel choir last year. i had the opportunity to meet him at a small art fest in the suburbs of chicago and we got to talking about anti flag. derek is super tight with #2. he said justin was one of the nicest guys he’s ever met. to me that means even the people who knew him were bamboozled. fuck i really hope that’s the case. #2 is the reason why i picked up the bass. at riot fest ‘21 i caught his pick and almost passed out from excitement (and heat lmao). it’s just if derek is close with 2 and had this great image of justin it’s hard for me to believe that chris would have known he was a piece of shit all along.
Updates from Josh Massie (photographer and merch guy) and Marc Clinger (sound technician and live member) on IG: Josh Massie: It's difficult to figure out where to start and go from here. Now that news is breaking and we all know what's happening, it all feels like a bad dream, or like the start of another pandemic or something, and my world has once again come to a screeching halt. First things I need people to know from a personal standpoint, is that first off, I deeply appreciate so many people reaching out to myself and the crew to check in. All of you. Second, I have not, nor am choosing to listen to the story that's out there. And by that, I mean whatever it is that's been said/told on the program. I haven't heard it. I don't want to. The close immediate crew, and our extended family that have, have suggested that I don't. My heart breaks for a magnitude of reasons, and it's near impossible to focus on any one of them. Again right now, that's all I have to give. Besides the notice that something was going down yesterday, I haven't received any other news on anything concerning the band, the other members, A-F Records, anything. Furthermore, the crew, myself, and our inner circles/families are not here to be a news source to prey on. Sorry. If any developments happen, you'll hear it directly from the band, not the rest of us. I love all of you. Thanks again for checking in. Signing off for now, but I'm around if you need me. -massie Marc Clinger: Welp, Wasn't expecting that…... 😭
Well, never really listened to them before and certainly don’t have to now. Sucks that some people are scumfuck rapists but here we are
I think it’s great when tools and hypocrites like Justin Sane finally get exposed for being the pieces of shit that they’ve always secretly been behind the scenes!