All Time Low Drops Libel Lawsuit But Says Probe Found ‘Smear Campaign’
Jack Barakat and his band All Time Low say their investigation of anonymous allegations they engaged in sexual misconduct has proven the claims were “false and damaging online rumors.” Now they’re requesting dismissal of the defamation and libel lawsuit they filed two years ago.
In a new court filing obtained by Rolling Stone, the band’s lawyer is asking the court to drop the case without prejudice, meaning the pop-punk quartet reserves the right to revive the action in the future. The complaint was first filed in 2022 against at least three anonymous defendants who claimed in social media posts that the group sexually harassed or assaulted teen fans.
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The central defendant in the case, Doe 2, was identified as someone who went online in 2021 and posted a lengthy statement claiming to be a former fan allegedly abuse by Barakat. Using the handle @ATLstatement, Doe 2 claimed to have been a 15-year-old girl who snuck backstage at a 2011 concert and started a decade-long relationship with Barakat that involved alleged sexual abuse.
According to a new statement from the band’s lawyer, a lengthy probe involving subpoenas and court orders determined that Doe 2 was actually multiple people who “spun an elaborate, fabricated story posing as a fan who incredibly and falsely claimed to have traveled with the band for more than 10 years.”
“There is no such person and no such incidents occurred. Rather, an investigation revealed that Doe 2 was an orchestrated smear campaign by multiple individuals posing as a fake fan. The investigations identified individuals behind the anonymous post who went to great lengths to hide their identities,” lawyer Michael B. Garfinkel of Venable LLP said Friday in the statement to Rolling Stone. “All Time Low has chosen to handle the matter privately and protect the identities of those behind Doe 2, instead of pursuing further litigation at this time.”
The allegations against All Time Low started to go viral in 2021 after Doe 1, a TikTok user, posted a cryptic message under the name @mini.grew that claimed “a famous pop punk band” offered her beer on a tour bus and asked for her bra “for their nasty collection” when she was 13. The post didn’t explicitly name the band but “gave easily solved clues” that led to a consensus the group was All Time Low, the band’s lawsuit said.
According to the complaint, a Twitter user named @spidahkii quickly stepped forward to refute Doe 1’s allegations. She claimed to have attended the concert with Doe 1, shared a photo purportedly showing them at the event and said Doe 1’s claims “never happened.” The lawsuit claimed Doe 1 then admitted she posted her statements “to be petty towards a peer” and made her video private.
A few weeks later, the handle @ATLstatement posted the statements attributed to Doe 2. Later that same month, another Twitter user with the handle @dietsodasage posted a tweet claiming to have counted 97 allegations against the band. “If 97 people aren’t enough then I don’t know what to tell you,” the user, identified as Doe 3, wrote. The Twitter account attributed to Doe 3 has since been deactivated, but the lawsuit included a screen grab of a post attributed to @dietsodasage that reads, “I feel kind of weird about how people took my tweet about the atl situation :/ I didn’t mean for things to go like that so I’m probably going to stay priv for a few days.”
Garfinkel said in his statement that the band’s investigation narrowed to Doe 2 after “Doe 3 quickly retracted the post and Doe 1’s post was debunked by a friend.” As Rolling Stone previously reported, Garfinkel appeared at a hearing in June and said he was working with the State Department to force two Internet companies based in Panama to trace the IP addresses associated with Doe 2’s social media profiles. A follow-up hearing in the case was set for Nov. 13.
“The investigation proved what All Time Low knew all along – the allegations in the posts are completely and utterly false,” Garfinkel said in his Friday statement. “Nonetheless, considerable time and legal resources were required to fully reassure All Time Low’s business and creative partners who put their trust in the band that the debunked claims were irresponsible and without merit.”
The other three founding members of All Time Low – singer and guitarist Alex Gaskarth, bass player Zack Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson – were listed as co-plaintiffs with Barakat in the lawsuit. The complaint was filed after the Maryland quartet issued an all-caps statement in October 2021 calling the online claims “absolutely and unequivocally false.” The band issued a new statement Friday after requesting the dismissal.
“This has been a challenging time for our band as we fought to clear and debunk these false and damaging online rumors,” they said. “We remain deeply grateful for those who have supported us throughout this legal process, including our fans, our peers, and collaborators. With this case dismissed, we remain committed to continuing to foster a healthy, safe environment both at our concerts and within our fan community, and we look forward to the next chapter of All Time Low.”
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