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After it was revealed that DIIV bassist Devin Ruben Perez had posted sexist, racist and homophobic comments on web forum 4chan, the band have released a statement saying that Perez "lost sight of what's remotely appropriate."
Perez's comments, which were unveiled by the Tumblr page Sexism In Music, were made during a low-profile Q&A session on the website.
They included, "Jake Gyllenhaal confirmed for biggest fucking faggot ever though", "I find [Grimes] physically repulsive. I am literally 0% attracted to her face and body", and use of the N-word.
Perez subsequently accused the media of "butchering" his words, as he goes on to clarify that Grimes' personality "more than makes up for all of that and I am not a shallow person at all." Which, we can all agree, more than excuses referring to a woman as physically repulsive.
DIIV frontman Zachary Cole Smith subsequently took to Twitter to say, "I'm so fucking disgusted. So fucking angry", adding, "no woman EVER deserves to be called a b***h, regardless of context. no person should ever be singled out and name-called."
The band have now released a full statement, which you can read below.
Cole doesn't stand for any bigotry, hatred, sexism racism or homophobia, especially when it's manifest in his own band. Cole and Devin are discussing what happened and his future in the band. Devin acknowledges what he did is very wrong. 4chan is a poisonous place. It's the bowels of the internet. A place where Devin lost sight of what's remotely appropriate and what isn't. Racial slurs and sexist remarks are practically what comprise the entirety of the site. It's important to examine the context of his comments, not to excuse them, but rather because it is a place that breeds, proliferates, and encourages dark and violent ideologies disguised as humor.
It needs to be exposed. It's lurking just beneath the surface and it's everywhere. Every journalist covering this story has a responsibility to expose 4chan for what it is. But regardless of the context, what Devin said is inexcusable. It will not be tolerated in the band or anywhere. But ultimately Cole and Devin are very close friends so this is a very hard thing for him to swallow, seeing such unexpected behavior like this from such a close friend. It is not being tolerated and is being dealt with right now.
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