Echosmith drummer Graham Sierota, 20, has issued an apology after being accused of sending messages to the 13-year-old daughter of Blink-182's Travis Barker.
Earlier this week, Travis's daughter Alabama shared screenshots of messages allegedly sent to her by Graham that began in 2016, when she would have been 10 years old.
Graham messaged her "Hi" at least three times in 2016 before telling her he thought she was "beautiful", but Alabama didn't respond. Then, in July this year, he reengaged by inviting her to a party at his home.
The screenshots show that Alabama responded to the invite, saying, "Ur like 40." Graham replied, "I just wanted to say I really like your music and sorry for messaging and I'm 20."
Alabama posted the screenshots on her Instagram story alongside a caption: "Hey guys! So once again I am bringing this to your attention because I'm a 13 year old girl and he is 21/20 super creepy."
Shortly after she'd shared the screenshots, Travis spoke out about it, revealing that he felt "disgusted" by what he perceived as "predatory behavior".
Well, Graham has now issued a statement of his own, claiming that he wasn't aware of Alabama's age when he sent the messages, and he apologised to her family.
In a statement to the Blast issued today, he said:
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. 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 Alabma, her dad Travis, and her family.