UPDATE 17/06: The Twitter user who made the allegations against 5 Seconds of Summer’s Michael Clifford has now retracted their claims.
5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford has taken to social media to deny allegations of sexual assault that emerged on Twitter earlier today.
The allegations originated from a Twitter user named @knowyoureta, who shared a secondhand account of an incident that allegedly happened while 5 Seconds of Summer were touring as the support act to One Direction in 2014.
According to the tweets, the underaged fan was allegedly invited to Clifford’s hotel room following a show, where they were allegedly touched inappropriately by the guitarist. The tweets also claim that bassist Calum Hood was in attendance at the time.
While these original claims come from a secondhand retelling of the alleged encounter, another user named @sophiecth5, who has since deleted their account, also shared a story of their own alleged experience.
In their tweets, which were saved as screenshots by other Twitter users, @sophiecth5 claims that a similar incident occurred during the same tour.
“i saw a girl talking about what happened to her at a 1D concert when 5 Seconds of Summer was touring with them and it instantly reminded me of what happen to me, with the same person,” they explained, referring to the alleged individual only by the initials of “mc”.
“the exact same situation, except that i was wearing a mini skirt and he slid his hand under it so i froze and i didn’t know what to do,” they continued. “i was scared and shocked bc he kept saying disgusting things to my ear and my friend was just a few steps apart with her boyfriend.
“MANY ppl saw him but no one did a thing. i was 14. FOURTEEN. and that fucking situation keeps happening in my head over and over everyday. i bet he doesn’t even remember bc to him was playing but to me it was and still feels traumatic. i swear it’s true. i swear.”
https://twitter.com/knowyoureta/status/1272314284261998598
https://twitter.com/yoonikitties/status/1272352185637011457
holy shit. i am heartbroken to read these things that are being said – they are just BEYOND untrue. i was never allowed in the crowd i only ever watched at front of house – and i would've never EVER done that. i wouldf NEVER do anything like that. i'm so fucking upset
— michael clifford (@Michael5SOS) June 15, 2020
this is what life was like in 2013 – please understand it wouldve been logistically impossible for me to get through a crowd at a show i just played at! im not trying to be defensive i promise this is just so completely falsehttps://t.co/7BfTBjiZLK
— michael clifford (@Michael5SOS) June 15, 2020
Clifford soon took to Twitter to share his own response to the allegations, vehemently denying that anything in the original tweets had occurred.
“i am heartbroken to read these things that are being said – they are just BEYOND untrue,” Clifford explained. “i was never allowed in the crowd i only ever watched at front of house – and i would’ve never EVER done that. i wouldf [sic] NEVER do anything like that. i’m so fucking upset.”
When urged to elaborate further, Clifford shared a video of the group being swarmed by a crowd in Canada in 2013.
“this is what life was like in 2013,” he explained. “please understand it wouldve been logistically impossible for me to get through a crowd at a show i just played at! im not trying to be defensive i promise this is just so completely false.”
At the current time, neither 5 Seconds of Summer nor Hood have made any statements regarding the allegations, and Clifford has not shared any further Tweets on the matter.
