Avi Buffalo Accused of Rape by Former Bandmate, Music Pulled By Sub Pop

Coleman claimed that the day after the incident, she ran into Zahner-Isenberg, who allegedly grabbed her and said, “I know, I raped you and stuff, I’m sorry.”

The second alleged incident occurred during Avi Buffalo’s first tour. Coleman said she was informed that she would be staying at Zahner-Isenberg’s sister’s house one night during the trek, only to discover that the arrangements had only been made for her and Zahner-Isenberg, not the rest of the band. “As soon as I heard this I knew that we would in turn be sharing a bed,” Coleman wrote. “This arrangement made me uncomfortable since I knew that he expected to hook up with me.” She continued:

I don’t remember how the situation escalated, but I know we ended up having sex on an air mattress in his sister’s living room. Every element of the situation made me uncomfortable, but it took a turn for the worse, this time raping me again by penetrating me anally with zero warning. I wanted to scream but we were in his sister’s apartment so I held back while tears ran down my face. I asked him what he thought he was doing and he said something to the effect of, “Sorry, thought that’s what you wanted.”

Throughout her statement, Coleman also described additional allegations of sexual misconduct, emotional abuse, and sexual harassment. Coleman said she quit Avi Buffalo in July 2010. “Releasing this personal information into the world was a decision that took me ten years to make,” she wrote in the caption to her Instagram post. Her statement mentions that upon leaving the band she signed a contract ensuring she wouldn’t speak negatively about Zahner-Isenberg or the band in general. “I do not know if this contract still stands,” she wrote. “But honestly, I do not give a fuck. Time’s Up.” The statement ends with video of a May 2009 performance of a song she says references the first alleged rape.

Devin O’Brien said in a statement to Pitchfork that Coleman initially told him about the first alleged rape the year it took place. “Rebecca and I had a heart to heart sometime in 2009 in which she shared the details of her April 22, 2009 rape,” O’Brien said in an email. “We were beginning our now 11-year relationship and she wanted to be absolutely honest with me.” He said he was informed of the second alleged rape as soon as they next saw each other in person. “Regarding the second instance of rape, I knew something was wrong when Rebecca called me on tour and said that Avi had told her and the whole band about a sexually explicit dream he had had about her,” he wrote. “She came to my house right after she got back from that first tour and told me what had happened.”