Having your personal files and data stolen – in particular nude or sexually explicit photos and videos – and uploaded onto the internet for all the world to see is one of the most traumatic experiences that can occur to you in the modern digital age.
“Today, due to a series of technological missteps and one morally abject person, a video that we made privately has been released to the public. We have commenced legal proceedings against the aforementioned person, but now that it could potentially circulate, we feel like it’s important for you to know what happened and why.”
“Just because we are public figures does not mean we asked for this. Like anyone, we still deserve to have a choice about what we share with the world. Today we no longer have that choice. But our hope is that you fundamentally understand that choice and you choose not to view a private act that was inadvertently made public. We hope you understand that this is not a delicious scandal. This is an exploitation.”
The internet, as you would, began sympathising with the band. Then, in a move apparently made to take control of the situation, the duo uploaded the video to their website and put it on sale for $5 to any fan who wanted to watch it; kind of a “it’s out there now so we might as well make the best of it” type situation.
“For the upcoming music video for our song, “I Wanna Fuck You Til I’m Dead,” we’re faking a sex tape leak.
In the days leading up to the video’s release, we’re going to pretend we were hacked, share and delete confessional social media posts on the subject of our privacy, then try to “get out in front of it” and sell the sex tape, fake a server crash, etc.”
Fucking yikes.
It’s time to state this.
We are not involved in the Yacht situation in any way the idea was devised and executed 100% without us.— Motormouthmedia Judy (@motormouthmedia) May 10, 2016
I did not want to say anything at all, but our friends and media are all asking. we did write the band expressing our concern.
— Motormouthmedia Judy (@motormouthmedia) May 10, 2016
Needless to say, people were not entirely pleased about the ruse.
?? We’ve written a statement here: https://t.co/9Q6J1Ves3D pic.twitter.com/t2CNtC0qB9
— ? ? ? ? ? (@YACHT) May 10, 2016
In case they finally see reason and decide to nuke it, the “statement” in full reads a little something like this:
“Our sex tape is now viewable on PornHub and being seeded on The Pirate Bay.We created a story that was quickly revealed as fiction by the internet. We expected interest, skepticism, and laughter. We didn’t anticipate the outpouring of genuine support, due partially to the credulity with which this story was so extensively and immediately reported.We did make a “sex tape,” and we want you to watch it. We released it as a slowly-unveiling conspiracy, inspired in equal part by The X-Files, Nathan For You, and The KLF. It’s a project that allowed us to play with science fiction, the attention economy, clickbait journalism, and celebrity sex tapes all at once.If you tried to purchase the video here, your card was never charged. This was not designed to make money or sell records, but to explore the intersection of privacy, media, and celebrity. We enjoy and have spent a decade creating multi-faceted projects that unfold over time, using the most current tools at our disposal.There is one dark note we want to address. We never make light of victims of any form of sexual abuse. Frankly, it’s disturbing to us that press outlets could make the incredibly irresponsible leap from “celebrity sex tape,” which is the cultural trope this project explicitly references, to “revenge porn,” which is unfunny, disgusting, morally repugnant, and completely unrelated. Even within the fictional narrative we created, there was no violence or exploitation. It was always about agency and proactive empowerment.We couldn’t have asked for better fans, and we realise we’ll need to try much harder to fool you. We will continue to work very hard to produce work that engages and responds to you.Love,Claire & Jona.“
Yes, you see. They were not trying to evoke empathy or allude to revenge porn; particularly when they explicitly stated that it was the result of “one morally abject person.” And, in fact, it is our fault we simply didn’t “get” what they were going for with the whole thing. It is not a case of garbage human behaviour at all.
“We live in Los Angeles, California, but we both grew up in Portland, Oregon, and consider Marfa, Texas to be our spiritual home. These three places come together to form what we’ve lovingly referred to as the Western American Utopian Triangle.”
There’s not a bin on earth big enough, I swear.
