Australian Tour Promoter Sacked After Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Australian concert promoter Life Is Noise sacked one of its directors, Dave Cutbush, Dec. 15 following allegations of sexual misconduct over an extended period of time.  

– Dave Cutbush
via Facebook

Allegations include a Facebook conversation with a 16-year-old girl a few years ago in which West Coast-based Cutbush suggested they “hook up in Sydney some time.”

In the backlash, U.S. acts Sleep and Chelsea Wolfe canceled tours. Aussie band Siberian Hell Sounds called for a boycott of the firm and donated the A$200 ($153.25) fee they were paid 12 months ago by the company to a women’s shelter. Music association WAM stripped Cutbush of the Golden WAMI award presented in 2012 for his contribution to Western Australia’s scene.

Cutbush confirmed the allegations in a posted apology, calling his actions “inappropriate and sleazy” and admitting, “I have used my position in the music industry to my advantage. I have propositioned women much younger than me and have behaved creepily in person at music events and online.”

In the meantime, more than 360 unnamed women in the Australian industry, including musicians, managers and booking agents, released an open letter Dec. 12 of the sexual harassment and assault they had faced.

The letter, released at the launch of the #meNOmore campaign, received more than  500 signatures of support, including from Tina Arena, Courtney Barnett, The Veronicas and Missy Higgins.

Sydney pop-punk band With Confidence is “taking time off” after two of its three members were accused in November of incidents involving under-age fans. The band was dropped from the January hard rock festival UNIFY.

A row erupted Dec. 18 in Warrnambool, in Victoria, over a mural of UK-based Australian entertainer Rolf Harris painted in 1986 outside the Lighthouse Theatre.

Local council covered it with plastic in 2015 after Harris was convicted of indecent assaults on women in the UK. But with the theatre embarking on an 18-day campaign against domestic violence, activists are demanding the mural be permanently painted over.