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USA Today
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Ethel Cain statement apologizes for racism, criticizes 'smear campaign' against her
Ethel Cain is speaking out after controversial comments from her past resurfaced. The singer-songwriter, whose legal name is Hayden Silas Anhedönia, shared a lengthy statement July 9 addressing a series of social media posts made public recently in which she used derogatory and racist language. Cain, 27, verified that the screenshots (mostly from Twitter and the now-defunct platform CuriousCat) were authentic, and launched into an explanation of her late teenage years, seemingly to explain the surfaced comments. In them, Cain uses a racial slur, makes a rape joke, and employs fatphobic and xenophobic language. USA TODAY has reached out to Cain's reps for comment. "I spent my later high-school years being extremely progressive and 'SJW' as they called it at the time, as a way to reject the indoctrination of my environment and rebel against the prejudice, hatred, and ignorance of the culture I grew up in," Cain wrote in the statement posted to a shared Google Drive. "SJW" refers to social justice warrior, a person who has taken up several social causes sometimes overzealously. "After moving out of my parents' house, I fell into a subculture online that prioritized garnering attention at all costs. I flip-flopped again, rejecting all notions of my former 'cringe SJW' behavior and intended to be as inflammatory and controversial as possible," she continued. "I would have said (and usually did say) anything, about anyone, to gain attention and ultimately just make my friends laugh." Cain, a Florida native, catapulted to popularity in 2022 with her debut album "Preacher's Daughter." Her dreamy, ambient sound explores American Gothic themes, drawing on her own upbringing in the Southern Baptist church. With singles like "American Teenager," Cain turns her pen to the holes in American exceptionalism, tearing apart her religious raising and the tragedies of a state at war. Her comments, dating back to 2017 and '18, stand at odds with the version of herself projected in the music. "I could tell you that I had no idea at the time the platform I would have in the future, or tell you I just have a dry and extremely sarcastic sense of humor, or make any other kind of excuse, but there's no place for excuses in this matter," Cain continued in her statement. "At the end of the day, I am white, so while I can take accountability for my actions, there's no way for me to fully understand the way it feels to be on the receiving end of them. All I can say is that I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart, to anyone who read it then and to anyone reading it now. Any way you feel about me moving forward is valid. "This was a chapter of my life I look back at shamefully. I am not proud of my actions, and I have done my best to bury it as I feel strongly that no good can come from it," she wrote. "As I move forward through my life, I aim to use my platform for good, for change, and for progress." Shifting from atonement to anger, Cain went on to accuse a group of intentionally leaking the screenshots, not to promote dialogue but to smear her online. "All of these things resurfacing are not the actions of a well-meaning individual concerned by something they discovered easily and casually on the internet," she argued. "These are screenshots obtained through extensive digging, hacking, and cooperative effort amongst a group of individuals who do not care who else is hurt by witnessing this media as long as I am ultimately hurt the worst in the end. "I've known that all of these separate pieces of my past have been found and hoarded over the past couple years as I've been tipped off in various ways," Cain continued. "This massive smear campaign has been a long time in the making, waiting for the right moment to be unleashed, and now it finally has. "All they crave is the complete emotional destruction of me as a person," she wrote. "Personal accounts of mine have been hacked, my family has been doxxed and harassed, photos of me as a child and intimate details of my past have been passed around for fun." Cain, who is transgender, went on to address one by one the series of accusations made against her by what she called a "transphobic brigade of individuals." The accusations run the gamut, drawing not only from the social media screenshots but from deep dives into the art that she used to promote her music. Taking accountability for the racism baked into many of her earlier comments, Cain said that's where she would stop, and that the other "ridiculous material" was mere "brutal slander." "No I am not a violent misogynist fetishizing the 'female experience'. No I am not the creator of child pornography, nor am I a pedophile, a zoophile, or a porn-addicted incest fetishist," she said. "I urge you to recognize the patterns of a transphobic/otherwise targeted smear campaign, especially in this political day and age. "This entire situation is negligent, sensationalized, and extremely dangerous not only for myself but for all my loved ones."
Metro
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Singer Ethel Cain admits she is 'not proud' of disturbing posts after backlash
Ethel Cain has posted a lengthy message after a slew of disturbing posts emerged, including her wearing a t-shirt which said 'legalise incest' on it. Screenshots began circulating, said to be shared by the 27-year-old singer in 2017 and 2018, featuring offensive language and alleged child pornography. Another image that Cain is accused of drawing and sharing on the site Curious Cats, parodied a missing persons poster for a nine-year-old girl who was murdered. Initially shared by X account Herweirdsilas, posting under the name 'Exposing', the questionable content quickly gained traction. After a few days of the images circulating Cain, whose real name is Hayden Silas Anhedönia, addressed the controversy via a Google Doc, admitting to the posts. She wrote that at 19 – during the time of the posts – she had 'fallen into a subculture online that prioritised garnering attention at all costs'. The American Teenager singer added: '[I] intended to be as inflammatory and controversial as possible. I would have said (and usually did say) anything, about anyone, to gain attention and ultimately just make my friends laugh.' Addressing her use of the N-word directly, Cain continued: 'At the end of the day I am white, so while I can take accountability for my actions, there's no way for me to fully understand the way it feels to be on the receiving end of them. 'All I can say is that I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart, to anyone who read it then and to anyone reading it now. Any way you feel about me moving forward is valid.' In her statement – which can be found here – Cain directly addresses each post, including the incest t-shirt, which she clarifies was 'never sold as merch'. 'Regarding the topic of incest in my artwork, it's a layered experience,' she wrote. 'I have always been interested in creating art centered around the taboo. 'Rather, as a lonely and confused child I had my own complicated personal struggles with the concept during puberty (in a hypothetical manner, not involving anyone in my actual family). I have since untangled these feelings and I now understand their root. 'While sometimes the topic of incest may get intermingled on a song with my own experiences of sexual abuse or my own familial traumas, I have never and would never fetishise such a sensitive subject.' She said she was 'not proud of her actions' and has tried to 'bury' this past in order to move forward with her life. However, even if she looks back 'shamefully' at the time, Cain stated the resurfacing of her posts is 'not the actions of a well-meaning individual'. 'These are screenshots obtained through extensive digging, hacking and cooperative effort amongst a group of individuals who do not care who else is hurt by witnessing this media as long as I am ultimately hurt the worst in the end,' she accused. Cain, a transwoman, called this a 'targeted smear campaign' against her and urged fans to 'recognise the patterns of transphobia'. 'To try and sum everything up, no I am not a violent misogynist fetishising the 'female experience',' she wrote. 'No I am not the creator of child pornography, nor am I a pedophile, a zoophile, or a porn-addicted incest fetishist. More Trending 'This information was hoarded until the perfect moment arose to unleash it. In this case, a baseless attempt to assassinate my boyfriend's character became the catalyst. 'He will address these claims in his own time on his own terms and I support him wholeheartedly. This entire situation is negligent, sensationalised, and extremely dangerous, not only for myself but for all my loved ones.' Cain's posts were made around the time of her early EP releases. She has since gone on to release three studio recordings – the latest of which is due out in August. Her previous album Preacher's Daughter and January 2025 release Perverts both saw moderate chart success in the US and UK. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Grammy-winning star battling cancer fears 'cruel' deportation under new Trump law MORE: Rock frontman addresses 'deafening booing' at Black Sabbath's and Ozzy Osbourne's final concert MORE: Fall Out Boy icon steps away from band to 'avoid permanent damage' to hand
Daily Mail
04-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
British father's six-year rape ordeal finally ends as he is cleared of attacking US teen in Greece and his lawyer reveals devastating effect the false claim had on his life
A British father has been cleared of raping an American teenager outside the bar he worked at in Greece in a six-year-long legal battle that lost him his wife. The 35-year-old DJ had been clashing with a 19-year-old teen in court since 2019 after she said he assaulted her while she was 'blind' drunk in Crete. The father-of-six insisted they had consensual sex - which a court in Heraklion believed today due to doubt over the girl's statement. The young woman was noticeably absent from court as well as any legal representation on her behalf, which the defendant's lawyer, Costas Papamastorakis, speculated was due to her realising her travel insurance did not cover the fallout from sexual assault. When she was first questioned by Hersonissos Police Department, she allegedly told them that she was insured for rape. But it later became clear that the woman's travel insurance would not cover the rape case, it was reported in Law&Order. Mr Papamastorakis reportedly said 'the insurance company's lack of coverage was likely the reason why the complainant did not appear'. The young woman claimed at the time she had been raped and forcibly dragged out of a bar in Malia to an uncovered area by a burly, dark-skinned man. The Brit, who had been working as a DJ at the same bar, said they had consensual sex inside after he met the young woman who was partying with her friends. When they then went outside, the girl vomited from being drunk and he suggested she drink some water or to sit on a sidewalk before going back into the bar, he claimed. Later that night, he heard while eating food with friends that a young woman had been raped at the bar. The Brit, then 29, handed himself over to the police, believing they would inevitably question him. The court's decision to spare the British father was a huge win, Mr Papamastorakis said, whose client's life fell apart since the allegation, including the mother of his six children divorcing him. It comes only months after another Brit was facing a nightmare court battle over assault in Greece. A young woman who was gang raped by two men while on holiday in Crete was forced to return to Greece for a second trial in March, despite her two attackers previously receiving life sentences for their horrific crimes. The woman, who had just turned 18 at the time of the assault in June 2022, had been holidaying with friends in the city of Rethymno after finishing her A-Levels. As she was sitting on a sunbed following a night out, she was grabbed and dragged away by two strangers, who then took it in turns to rape her. The men, understood to have been Pakistani nationals who were in their 20s at the time, were apprehended by Greek authorities a few hours after the horrific attack. They confessed to the gang-rape at the time of their arrest but then reportedly said the woman consented in their court appearance a year later. The young woman is said to have been forced to stand just metres away from her attackers as she gave evidence. The harrowing case ended with the men being jailed for life - or so the woman's family thought, as they looked forward to moving on from the ordeal. But shockingly, the men took advantage of a Greek law which allows defendants to lodge an appeal within a certain time frame, giving them an automatic right to a full retrial with a fresh examination of witnesses and evidence. The young woman had no choice but to return to Greece to be put through the horrific trial process all over again, with her mother saying the experience will likely re-traumatise her.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Huge American singer to perform at popular Glasgow venue
A huge American singer is coming to Glasgow later this year. Ethel Cain, famous for songs like American Teenager and Crush, will be performing at the O2 Academy in the Southside of the city. The show will take place on Saturday, October 4. READ NEXT: Popular musician announces two shows in Glasgow as part of UK tour The gig will follow the release of Cain's new record, Willoughby Tucker, I Will Always Love You, which is set to be released this August. (Image: Image of Ethel Cain) The album will serve as a prequel to Cain's debut album Preacher's Daughter, which was released in 2022 and follows her recent experimental project, Perverts, released earlier this year to widespread acclaim. READ NEXT: Ska pop legends announce December Hydro show with huge support act Pre-sale tickets will go live on Wednesday, March 26 at 10am. General sale will take place on March 28 at 10am. To purchase tickets, visit
