British musician Geordie Greep began his concert at The Pearl on Vancouver’s Granville Street Thursday night with a speech addressing sexual assault allegations that were being circulated about him before the show. Multiple social media posts indicate Greep was responding to a flyer that was being distributed outside the venue. “Geordie Greep a rapist,” the flyers read, before alternating between addressing Greep directly—alleging “you know what you did”—and addressing the recipient of the flyer. “He thinks he can do whatever he wants because he’s gone tomorrow. Let him know what Vancouver thinks of rapists,” the flyer concludes. The allegations have not been proven, and Greep denied them on stage, explaining his perspective on what happened the night before. “Me and some of the band, we went out to some bars,” Greep told the audience, as seen in videos of the speech posted online. “We went around, we met people, and it ended up in a situation where really late at a house party I got the wrong end of the stick with someone that was there.” Greep said he “made a move” that “didn’t come off,” and said he apologized “really quickly.” “It was a complete misunderstanding on my part and I felt extremely bad and I feel extremely sorry and extremely upset about the whole situation,” he said. “I would never rape a woman. I’m not a rapist. It’s not how that went down.” Greep explained that he wanted to be “transparent” with the audience about what had happened, and also said he didn’t want to force his band to play a show under the circumstances. “It’s OK if people want a refund, if they want to leave, it’s fine,” he said, adding that he intended to donate the proceeds from the night’s performance to a local charitable organization, though which one was unclear from his phrasing. He then played a solo set for those who remained. Multiple publications reported Saturday that Greep had cancelled the rest of his North American shows on his current tour. Greep was the frontman of the band Black Midi until it went on indefinite hiatus in 2024. Later that same year, he released his first solo album “The New Sound.” If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:
