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A Twitter user who recently accused 5 Seconds of Summer‘s Michael Clifford of sexual assault has withdrawn her claim and apologised to the guitarist.
On June 14, a Twitter user with the handle @sophiecth5 accused Clifford of sexually assaulting her during the band’s 2013 tour supporting One Direction. That account and the original tweets with those allegations were deleted, as NME reported yesterday (June 15).
Clifford denied the allegation on Twitter, saying he was “heartbroken to read these things that are being said” and calling the accusation “BEYOND untrue”.
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
Today (June 16), a user with the handle @sophiectth5, who identified herself as the original accuser posted a new statement, Variety reports. In it, she says she has learnt the perpetrator was a different, now-deceased man, and apologised to Clifford.
“Today, I found out that I’ve been wrong for almost seven years. Today I found out that my offender is dead,” explained the user, who only identified herself as Sophie H. “my offender IS NOT MICHAEL CLIFFORD. HE NEVER TOUCHED ME, HE NEVER SAID THOSE THINGS TO ME. He’s innocent.”
“I know there’s literally nothing I can do to change what I said yesterday and I wish, with my whole heart, there was a way to erase everything. All I can do is say that I’m completely sorry, surprised and heartbroken,” she added.
“I’m sorry Michael. I’m completely sorry for being wrong about you and the damage I may caused [sic].” See the new tweets below.
— sophie (@sophiectth5) June 15, 2020
Clifford and the band have yet to respond to this new statement at the time of writing.
Yesterday, the band’s manager at the time the alleged sexual assault took place, Adam Wilkinson, also posted on Facebook denying any possibility the allegations were true.
NME‘s request for comment to 5 Seconds of Summer’s PR team yesterday went unreturned.
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