The longtime drummer for Sigur Rós has left the Icelandic rock band after allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in Los Angeles in 2013.
In a statement, the band said on Monday that Orri Páll Dýrason stepped away “in the wake of the extremely serious and personal allegations made against him in recent days.”
Artist Meagan Boyd claimed in a social media post last week that Dýrason’s assaulted her while she was passed out drunk in his bed.
“I woke up with the feeling of being penetrated without my consent during a deep slumber,” she wrote. “It happened twice that night, and I wondered [to] myself why I didn’t leave after the first time—but I was drunk, dead tired, in shock…”
On Facebook, the 41-year-old drummer, who joined Sigur Rós in 1999,
“These are not court proceedings, just Meagan’s words against mine, on the internet,” wrote Dýrason, who said leaving the band was a difficult decision.
“I cannot have these serious allegations influence the band and the important and beautiful work that has been done there for the last years.”
Dýrason added: “I will do anything in my power to get myself out of this nightmare, but out of respect for those actually suffering from sexual violence, I will not take that fight public.”