This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply. Another woman has shared her story for the first time detailing what she describes as a “pattern of grooming” from Jesse Lacey of Brand New and why she does not think the band should be touring: I am sharing my story publicly for the first time, and it’s one I’ve kept to myself for years. In 2006, I was 15 years old, a teenager at the height of adolescence, trying to navigate the complexity of identity, self-worth, and relationships. Brand New’s music defined that time for me, and like so many others, I idolized Jesse Lacey. His lyrics spoke to the vulnerability of youth, the pain of growing up, and the confusion of unrequited love. To be seen by him as someone worthy of his attention was intoxicating — it felt like a validation of my worth, my place in the world, and my identity as a young woman. The entire thing is worth your time. And the words toward the end have stuck with me since I first read them: To those who feel that people like me demanding accountability want Jesse to “burn” or have his life ruined — this was never about destruction. It’s about responsibility. No one is asking for his exile, only for an acknowledgment that goes beyond vague apologies and self-preserving statements. True accountability isn’t just admitting to “sex addiction” or “manipulation”; it’s about recognizing the full extent of harm caused and taking meaningful steps to repair it. Jesse has never done this. Defending him by claiming he’s “done his time in therapy” suggests that personal growth absolves public harm, which it does not. […] If you truly believe Jesse has changed, ask yourself: why has he never directly addressed the people he harmed? Why, in 20 years, has he done nothing to make things right? And why are you more comfortable questioning his victims than questioning him? I’ve said what I want to say about the band’s return at this point, but I think this is important to share. more Not all embedded content is displayed here. You can view the original to see embedded videos and other embedded content.
You can scream from the mountain tops all you want. they got away in 2017 and now it’s 2025 and there playing in major arenas. We live in a corrupt world If any of us did this we would be in jail. But some people get to play by different rules. a whole new management team took on the band Brand New knowing the past but they see profitability in them and don’t care about the past.
If anyone did the math, Jesse would have been 27 years old when her story starts. She would have been a high school freshman. EDIT: I'm just reading further and seeing that there's photographic proof that this 28 year old man had teenagers on his tour bus.
So because bad things happen we should just shut up about it? I doubt the author thinks that the tour is going to be canceled. She wants people to ask themselves questions about their relationship with the art they consume and support monetarily.
I’m still amazed this tour is happening. Just bad vibes all around given the obvious coupled with the fact that even pre-allegations I’ve heard from multiple sources the members do NOT get along.
Also telling from the photos is that the rest of the band was around and well aware. And infuriating to read that their tour manager was facilitating these hangouts with minors. Does anyone know who that manager was and if they’re still working in the industry?
I was aware of the general allegations when they first arose several years ago, but seeing photographic proof makes it seem even more gross. Picture is worth a thousand words, etc. Seeing the band in there too is especially disappointing (understatement, I know).
I imagine it’s mainly money that was the driving decision. Still wild that this whole thing was clearly in the works for a while.
She does a great job of illustrating exactly why it’s so problematic for Jesse Lacey to return to the very platform that afforded him the ability to manipulate and abuse girls in the first place. Also, I appreciate her responding directly to supporters of Brand New now, in 2025, and how personal growth does not absolve public harm. He hasn’t demonstrated actual responsibility or accountability. She’s calling on fans (and former fans, even) to reflect on that fact.
I’m so glad I don’t really like their music anymore. I tried listening to Deja Entendu recently and was just like “Meh. This is corny and sucks”. It’s weird. I still enjoy listening to All American Rejects, Yellowcard, TBS, and a lot of these other bands from that era but Brand New’s music does absolutely nothing for me now.
But also...her family?! The one picture is her family and friends with Jesse Lacey. They apparently found nothing weird about this behavior. That's where all of this strikes me as odd. For a lot of reasons: Lawsuits (that would be public admission); it just adds flame to the fire; it's not really going to change anything. I'm not defending Jesse Lacey. Brand New's music makes me cringe now when I hear it. I'm just saying that, if you had already forgiven Jesse Lacey for his bad behavior the last time this game around, this story shouldn't change things for you. It's a lesser version of the same gross behavior he's already been accused of and basically admitted to. So either forgive Jesse, or don't. For me personally, I never want to hear Brand New again.
Hi there. I'm the author of this article. Trying not to chime in too much here as there have been several Lacey apologists flinging their opinions at me today. To respond to your question about my family - my mother was extremely skeptical at first. We were not allowed on the tourbus immediately when she chaperoned us to these shows. Unfortunately, my best friend's parents were much more lenient with us and were our chaperones to many of these shows. They'd stay at hotels and drop us off and say be back by a certain time. I don't know why they didn't care more, but the fact of the matter is, they didn't. They were not great parents. Jesse groomed me by also weaseling his way into my mom's perspective of him. He made contact with her, shook her hand, spoke nice things about myself and my friend. He worked to gain her trust. She was aware of our relationship and failed to remain skeptical enough to protect me from how close we became. She wasn't aware of the constant communication we had on a near daily basis. She also knew* how DEEPLY I was obsessed with this band and wanted to make her daughter happy. She actually was on the tourbus briefly that night that I took the photos, to check in on us. Hope this clears things up, atleast somewhat.
The tour manager being in on it is so damning and speaks to a wider cultural rot that goes beyond any one individual. You'd think he'd be the voice of authority that tells Jesse to knock that shit off, but nope, he's just partaking in the same behavior. No wonder Jesse thought he could get away with it. The entire infrastructure encouraged it.
Please don't take my comments as disrespect. I'm very sorry you went through all this with him. You were an innocent child, and he took advantage of you. He's a disgusting individual as I indicated in my reply. I'm sorry your parents just...I don't even know. I'm a parent, and I can't imagine just blindly trusting my child with an individual like that. He manipulated them too. The "lesser version" was purely a comparison with the other reports from girls were solicited for (and sent) child pornography. It's all bad. If you were solicited and you left that out of your story, then I retract that point. My main point was that Brand New apologists aren't going to be swayed unless there's stronger evidence of gross behavior (I think it would take physical sexual assault, and even then, they might write it off). Personally, the music was tainted for me when I realized what it was about, and this band is dead to me.
Jesse is his meal ticket, and he didn't want to screw that up. It's the same with all the #MeToo stories in Hollywood. And the more people are complicit with it, the more it gets normalized. It's messed up.
I don't really think this "point" needs to be made, since it's really all conjecture; however, I've already seen evidence that it has "swayed" people: 6 minutes ago I've seen other comments about the visceral reaction to the photos.
I was into Brand New’s first album for a minute because it was pop punk and I liked the vibe. Now it makes me sick to think that I listened to this man’s music and ever got any enjoyment out of it. I The Mighty is another band I’ve abandoned due to scene rot/disgusting actions of their lead singer. Feels inappropriate that men who use this controlling and disgusting behavior should ever have a platform again. I hope whatever they do is a failure and that one day he is made to account for his sickening actions.
I hadn't seen that. Thanks for highlighting it. I suppose I forget that I'm old, so this is all still "fresh" in my mind. I remember the article title "the specific betrayal of brand new" and I related to it very strongly. But for people who got onto the band since then, they may not have been immediately aware of how gross it all is. So I just assume people have picked which side of the fence they're on at this point. It's surprising in a good way to see someone who went to one of their shows swayed by this testimony.
One quick addendum to this: I find it odd that people seem more affected by pictures...it's almost like they didn't believe it was true until they saw it with their own eyes. And maybe in fact, that was the case. In which case, that's the best thing that can come from this. I was disgusted reading about it when it came out, and those feelings never dissipated for me. Maybe some protesters will get into the shows with blown-up versions of these pictures so they can be shown to fans that won't see (or intentionally ignore) this and the other stories.