Echosmith drummer apologizes to Travis Barker, teen daughter for DMs
UPDATE: AUGUST 2, 9:26 A.M. EST
Travis Barker’s 13-year-old daughter has responded to Echosmith drummer Graham Sierota’s apology for his Instagram DMs. You can read her statement, here.
ORIGINAL STORY: AUGUST 1, 2:56 P.M. EST
Echosmith drummer Graham Sierota has responded to allegations of sending inappropriate messages to the daughter of blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.
Barker’s daughter, Alabama, is 13-years-old. She posted a conversation with the 20-year-old drummer on her Instagram story.
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The first messages began in September 2016 with Sierota sending “Hi” and calling Alabama “beautiful.” However, last month, Sierota sent her a BBQ invite.
Alabama is seen responding saying “you’re like 40”. Sierota then responds and apologizes.
“I just wanted to say i really like ur music and sorry for messaging and I’m 20,” he wrote.
She then says “Ok but u understand I’m a child?” and that is the final message that is visible in the screenshots.
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Travis’ son, Landon, posted the screenshots with a message.
“@grahamsierota The drummer of the band @echosmith has been direct messaging my 13 year old sister for the past 2 years he’s is over 21 and inviting her to barbecues and calling her beautiful any one supporting this band should rethink there decisions,” he wrote.
The Blast reportedly received a statement from Travis that he condemned the “predatory behavior”.
“When I found out a 20-year-old man was trying to get in touch with my 13-year-old daughter by filling her Instagram messages with party invites and compliments I was disgusted,” he reportedly said. “That’s predatory behavior, and there is nothing cool, normal or OK about it at all.”
Following Travis’ statement, Sierota has responded to the allegations in a statement of his own. In it, he says he was unaware of Alabama’s age and apologizes to both her and Travis.
“I had invited Alabama to my parents’ big family BBQ along with many other people, and it wasn’t until she responded that I realized her age at which point I apologized to her,” he said. “I’m really sorry and feel very badly about this. I didn’t realize she was a minor and assumed she was my age. I made a careless mistake and this is a big lesson for me. I would like to apologize again to Alabama, her dad Travis, and her family.”
Neither Travis nor Echosmith have released an official statement about the allegations at the time of publication.
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