5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford has dismissed allegations that he sexually assaulted underage fans as “just BEYOND untrue” and “so completely false.”
Posts on a since-deleted Twitter account with the user name @knowyoureta claimed Clifford “used to invite underaged girls to his hotel room/tour bus after shows.” Another user, who also deleted their account, claimed that she was 14 when Clifford “slid his hand” under her skirt.
The 24-year-old musician tweeted Sunday that he was “heartbroken” to read the allegations.
“They are just BEYOND untrue,” he wrote, before addressing a specific accusation. “i was never allowed in the crowd I only ever watched at front of house – and I would’ve never EVER done that,” he wrote. “i am so f**king upset.”
He shared a video clip showing 5SOS being mobbed by fans outside their tour bus in Montreal in 2013.
“please understand it wouldve been logistically impossible for me to get through a crowd at a show i just played at! i’m not trying to be defensive I promise this is just so completely false.”
Coming to Clifford’s defence was Adam Wilkinson, who was the band’s manager at the time.
“All accusations of this kind should be taken seriously if the information can be cross referenced and substantiated. That’s not the case here and I can confirm at all times I was with the band, they were escorted to front of house from backstage at all times, often by multiple body guards and crew,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “There is simply no possibility of this accusation to have occurred, given the band were surrounded by thousands of iPhones in an arena, thousands of eyes on them and being closely monitored by the live team/security/management at all times."
The allegations of sexual assault surfaced after Clifford publicly apologized for sexist and homophobic tweets that resurfaced last week.
“I am so f**king sorry for all the dumb s**t I did when I was younger,” he tweeted. “I am a different person now with a much better understanding of the world. some people have access to a digital megaphone a bit earlier than they should, unfortunately, I was one of them.
“I am so sorry for hurting anyone. It was never my intention. I was so naive and I am embarrassed and I am beyond sorry. I will continue to be better and I will continue to change. I never want to hurt anyone again.”