Geordie Greep has issued a public apology after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her while she was asleep at a Vancouver apartment on October 8. The former black midi frontman acknowledged kissing the woman, but said he had mistakenly believed she was interested in him. This comes after the woman herself has come forward.
The woman, identified under the pseudonym Laura, has now shared her account in an interview with Paste, alongside former Greep keyboardist Cameron Campbell, who said the incident prompted his departure from the touring band.
According to Laura, she met Greep and members of his touring party at a bar on October 7 before accompanying a group to an apartment. She said she had repeatedly mentioned being in an exclusive relationship and had shown no romantic interest in the musician. After falling asleep on a couch, Laura alleges she awoke to Greep kissing her.
“When I realized what was happening, I pushed him off of me and called him out on what he was doing,” she told Paste.
Campbell, who was elsewhere in the apartment, said he heard Laura shouting and entered the room afterward. He told Paste that she explained what had happened and that he subsequently decided he could no longer perform with Greep.
The allegations first became public when someone distributed flyers accusing Greep of rape outside his October 8 concert at Vancouver's The Pearl. Laura said the person responsible for the flyers had acted without her permission and emphasized that the accusation on the flyers was inaccurate.
“I was not raped. I was sexually assaulted, and [it was] more than a kiss taken the wrong way,” she said. She also specified she wants survivors of rape to be believed, which is one reason she wanted to clarify the messaging on the flyers .
Greep addressed the controversy from the stage that evening, describing the encounter as a misunderstanding and denying the rape allegation. He performed without his backing band, and his remaining North American tour dates were subsequently canceled.
In a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday, October 14, Greep provided a more detailed account. He said he had fallen asleep in an armchair and awoke around 6am before approaching the woman, whom he believed was interested in him.
“I kissed her once and she immediately responded negatively and pushed me away,” he wrote. Greep said he apologized, left when asked, and briefly returned to retrieve his phone.
He also acknowledged that the woman told him she had been asleep, something he maintained he had not realized.
“I understand the impact of my actions and take full accountability,” Greep wrote. “I'm not trying to minimise what happened in any way.”
Campbell disputed attempts to characterize the encounter as just an unsuccessful romantic advance, telling Paste that someone who is asleep cannot consent to being kissed.
Laura, meanwhile, said her decision to speak publicly was about correcting misinformation rather than pursuing Greep's downfall.
“My story was twisted and made public without my consent,” she told Paste. “My only goal here is to reclaim the narrative of something that happened to me.”
Laura says she'd like for the ordeal to be over and "to move on with my life."
She continued:
"My hope is that he learns his actions have consequences and never does anything like that again. To all the men reading this, I want you to reflect and ask yourself how you can do a little better. To the person I trusted who distributed those flyers, to the guys that night who asked me many times if I was sure I was exclusive, to the man who kept calling me hot after I made it clear I wasn’t interested, to the men defending Geordie, to the ones saying I’m making stuff up for attention, to Geordie Greep who assaulted me—none of that was rape, but it was all rooted in misogyny."
If you or someone you know is undergoing sexual abuse, please visit rainn.org or contact the National Sexual Assault Helpline at 1-800-656-4673.
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