Following the allegations that Say Anything frontman Max Bemis sent inappropriate DMs to teenage fans, Wavves confirmed to fans that their collaborative album Cherry Soda, scheduled for release on September 18, will be scrapped.
In a series of messages from a fan chat on Patreon (with screenshots shared on Reddit), Wavves frontman Nathan Williams broke his silence and addressed plans for Cherry Soda. Speaking about the situation, Williams said he is not friends with Bemis and ran into issues with the pop-punk musician while making the record.
“In [sic] a personal level I don’t know the guy,” Williams wrote. “I’ve hung out with him 3 times when he was on [sic] the studio, on a professional level he was awful.” He then mentioned that he was “about to lose 200k” because of “this gross loser” and would go into debt. “I don’t want to be associated with the guy, and so it’s as simple as that,” he said about his decision not to release Cherry Soda. “Whatever I lose doesn’t matter at that point.”
Williams also told patrons in the chat that the “real thing that hurts” is how uneven the work was between himself and Bemis: “he spent 3 days in the studio and I spent 11 months.” When someone asked whether Williams could re-record Cherry Soda without Bemis’ contributions, Williams confirmed that he’s in active conversations about it and “it wouldn’t be hard,” as Bemis “barely wrote anything.” While the re-recordings would delay Cherry Soda‘s release, this route would mean that shelving the album wouldn’t deplete Williams’ savings, if he “can at least figure that out, though the downside is that 10,000 records were already pressed.”
In addition to confirming Cherry Soda‘s release plans are being pulled—or, at least, not the version that features Bemis—Williams leaked a now-scrapped cover of Alternative Press, which features the Wavves frontman choke-holding Bemis. “If the picture doesn’t tell you the story of how I felt about him, I dunno what will,” he wrote. “Obviously now this isn’t coming out so. Fuck it.”
Following the initial allegations against Bemis, other young fans shared their own experiences with the musician crossing boundaries. Screenshots from a 19-year-old fan’s conversation with Bemis showed him allegedly saying he wanted to kiss them. When the fan pushed back, citing their age gap, he argued that being attracted to younger people was “a pretty common kink.” The fan continued to express discomfort, telling Bemis that they were “probably the same age as some of your kids,” to which the Say Anything frontman retaliated, “That’s gross and no. I don’t like what you just said. My daughter is 13.” He added, “I don’t think you suck in any way but you’re making me feel bad for simply being me.”
Shortly after the posts gained traction, Say Anything released a statement on Instagram, announcing that “due to the need to prioritize his mental health and personal well-being,” Bemis’ upcoming performances for his joint tour with Wavves “have been postponed.”
“Max will be taking the necessary time away to focus on his mental health,” the statement continued. “We appreciate everyone’s understanding, patience and respect for his privacy at this time.”