Sargent Home founder Cathy Pellow has stepped down from her place on the label after allegations towards her have surfaced on-line. Henry Kohen of the band Mylets posted a prolonged assertion detailing his time residing in a residence shared by Sargent Home staff. Kohen stated he was molested by affiliate of the label Graeme Flegenheimer, and was ignored and ultimately made enjoyable of by Pellow after reporting the incident to her.
“First I might wish to say thanks to the buddies, former/present SH artists and staff, and followers who’ve reached out to indicate help and share their very own experiences,” wrote Kohen. “I wish to be clear right here and acknowledge that Cathy has reached out to me privately, expressing curiosity round my earlier video.
“You will need to me that there’s an understanding that this problem transcends any of my very own private experiences and that, even within the occasion that any of the next could also be misplaced recollections for Cathy, there’s an plain tradition and sample of habits that’s ingrained within the basis of Sargent Home that must be addressed. I wish to talk about two occurrences that I personally went via after which contact on the larger image.
“In September 2015 after I was 19 and nonetheless residing in Sargent Home I used to be molested by venue proprietor and Sargent Home-regular Graeme Flegenheimer whereas making an attempt to kick him out of the home. I instructed Cathy about this, about how he had lingered round after a celebration till everybody left and commenced asking me extraordinarily inappropriate questions, how he groped me and made passes at me after I refused to get right into a mattress with him, how he had climbed the entrance wall of the home to get again inside and looked for me after I locked him out, how he had then proceeded to ship me insulting and specific textual content messages all through that evening.
“I used to be not taken critically, met with basically a shrug and an ungainly snort, and some nights later I arrived to the home to search out him again over as a dinner visitor. Their skilled and private relationship remained intact for lengthy after I had instructed Cathy.
“This was the impetus for me deciding to maneuver out of Sargent Home, a transfer that may additionally lead away from my aspirations of getting a life centered round music. I had heard Cathy strongly and publicly condemn perpetrators and advocate for victims utilizing the Sargent Home platform and the dearth of acknowledgement or motion completely contributed to my suppression and denial of what had occurred to me.
“In October 2013, after I was simply 17, at a present in Chicago on my very first North American tour, Cathy took me apart and instructed me with the utmost gravity to by no means ever neglect that the one cause anybody would ever concentrate or worth my music was due to her.
“I actually have by no means forgotten this! Later this similar evening, she would stroll throughout and harm my data and shirts with muddy footwear and ultimately go on to name my Mother a cunt in entrance of the complete tour line-up, my mother and father, and followers who had caught round.
“I’m embarrassed to speak about both of those occasions they usually actually will not be the extent of my experiences, however I need to exorcise them from my head and they’re additionally essential in understanding the tradition surrounding Sargent Home.
“I witnessed routine excessive degradation and verbal abuse of staff and artists, intentional belittling and manipulation resulting in rivalries and insecurities inside the artist-base, blatant and even proudly misogynistic language surrounding the ‘acquisition’ of emotionally-vulnerable feminine artists, purposeful withholding of economic info besides when making obscure allusions to how indebted the artists had been to her, open disdain for the fan bases of bands, forceful and focused breaking of artists and worker’s private boundaries, and an all-encompassing technique of ‘othering’ that instilled a continuing feeling of paranoia.
“I’ve no ambitions to ‘cancel’ Cathy, to close down Sargent Home, no emotions of vindictiveness. What I’m asking for is for there to be an acknowledgement of previous behaviors to be able to guarantee any artists, staff, or followers that any such systematic therapy is now not tolerable and that those that have been harm can get accountability with out the concern of getting to place themselves on the road legally or financially and with out having to revisit existentially embarrassing or hurtful instances of their lives.
“By the label’s constructed outward messaging and aesthetic, many individuals are drawn to hitch Sargent Home whether or not as artists, staff, or devoted followers and I imagine these individuals all deserve an impression constructed on good religion when contemplating pouring themselves right into a model.
“To these of you who may converse alongside me right here, I ask that you just please please do (offering you might be at the moment legally in a position to). Although I can’t converse for you, I promise I bear in mind your struggles and ache as effectively and I do know that you just carry your experiences in the identical means I do.
“I’ve nothing to advertise or acquire via this and I’m not sad with the present state of my life, I’m not a disgruntled ex-musician or searching for consideration via my grief. I wish to particularly thank these few grownup musicians and staff who took the time to earnestly verify in on me as an individual after I was nonetheless a young person; seeing previous cliques or trade careers and simply recognizing a naive younger man who most likely did not perceive what he was in the course of.
“On the time I detested your efforts and I understood you to be bitter ex-devotees who had merely failed to stick to the steerage and genius of Cathy‘s management.
“Thanks all for taking the time to learn or hearken to this, I really feel disgrace, embarrassment, and loneliness as I end writing right here. It’s no accident that I really feel these emotions now in the identical means that it’s no accident that it has taken me near a decade to talk up about one thing that follows me day by day. It feels treasonous.
“Cathy,
“Your final textual content to me was despatched after I got here out publicly as queer. You stated: ‘Sending like to you Henry. I am so completely satisfied you had been in a position to share your fact right this moment.’
“I don’t count on this to be a simple course of for you, I hope you will notice worth mirrored in my fact and that others will present their truths as effectively.
“I imagine that Sargent Home really deserves this, to not be torn down, however to be held to the usual it purports to.”
Pellow has since responded to the allegations, apologizing and saying she’s closed the administration aspect of the label and “will probably be stepping away from Sargent Home.” Pellow‘s assertion was posed to the Sargent Home Instagram and reads as follows.
“I’ve been making an attempt to collect the appropriate phrases to say in mild of a latest video uploaded to social media by an artist I managed named Henry Kohen wherein he shared some experiences throughout his time residing at my workplace / dwelling,” wrote Pellow.
“To Henry, I sincerely apologize and had no thought how a lot my phrases and actions harm you. I’ve despatched you a personal message that additional expresses my remorse in regards to the occasions that impacted you. In the event you select to share that message publicly, that’s in fact your determination to make.
“I additionally wish to apologize to any previous staff or artists who’ve been negatively impacted by my actions. I have been too oblivious and unaware of the hurt that my unhealthy habits had brought about, I do know that does not excuse the info and I take accountability for any ache I dropped at these round me. I really feel ashamed and am really remorseful.
“I wish to do proper by these I’ve let down and I’m open and welcoming to anybody who could be prepared to have a dialog with me. I see now how offensive I used to be to lots of people, however I’m human and hopefully deserving of an opportunity to make amends.
“Sobriety has been actually essential to me lately, particularly throughout and after the pandemic. I don’t count on to achieve any sympathy from anybody, however I’m now not the individual I was, and I’m striving to turn out to be a greater individual and proper my previous errors. With that in thoughts, I’ve closed the administration aspect and will probably be stepping away from Sargent Home to deal with the issues I can do to repair these points and handle my very own psychological well being.
“I’m the one one that may account for my actions, so I ask that folks direct their anger or disappointment in the direction of me and never towards any of the artists related previous or current. I hope followers of the music launched via Sargent Home can separate my shortcomings from the work completed for and by the artists that all of us love and cherish, they need to not take any blame for this.
“There’s quite a lot of work forward and I’m solely starting this course of. I’ve created a private Instagram account @cathyp_1956 in order that I can proceed the conversations with out being a distraction to the artists and folks that proceed to do wonderful work at Sargent Home.”
Artist statements concerning the abuse have additionally begun to floor. Chelsea Wolfe revealed in an Instagram story that she dropped off the label final summer season for her psychological well being, whereas Lingua Ignota has issued the next assertion additionally as an Instagram story.
“I’ve been working very onerous to make my life as wholesome and completely satisfied as doable. An enormous a part of that equation meant ending my relationship with Cathy Pellow, which I did final yr. I’m specializing in my future and will probably be going into element about my expertise however I stand in unequivocal help of the artists and staff talking out. I’m grateful to be free and therapeutic.”
King Woman additionally shared Wolfe‘s assertion, including “I second this. I additionally left just a few years in the past.”
