Australian band, 5 Seconds of Summer, lead guitarist ,Michael Clifford, took Twitter his apologies over alleged offensive tweets dated 2012.
The original tweet has accumulated more than 9k comments. It has over 16k retweets and more than 67k reactions as of writing.
A Twitter user on Tuesday shared alleged screenshots of sexist and homophobic tweets claimed to be from Michael Clifford. However, they were written and eventually deleted.
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A Different Person Now
5 Seconds of Summer lead guitarist clarified that he has changed compared to the teenager who wrote the tweet eight years ago. Michael Clifford admitted that he was still naive then. However, he never wanted to hurt anyone.
Michael Clifford's tweet received both positive and negative reactions from netizens since its posting last Sunday.
Bandmate and 5 Seconds of Summer bassist Calum Hood also replied on the thread. He sent a message of support. He says he knows that Clifford is a good person.
The Accusation
Alleged tweets that resurfaced from 2012 included sexist and misogynist jokes. These were jokes about women belonging in the kitchen.
The original poster also included other screenshots of homophobic tweets by the Australian rocker. The tweets contained the F-word.
Twitter handlers using hashtag #michaelcliffordiscoverparty shares second-hand-stories about the band member.
One of these stories is an accusation to Michael Clifford assaulting teens. The case is said to be 6 to 7 years ago.
The 5 Seconds of Summer lead has told his 13 million fans on Twitter that the accusation is 'beyond untrue.'
In an article published in 7news.com, allegedly, Michael Clifford slid into the audience in a concert. He then touched them inappropriately. It is unknown if the claims had been reported to authorities since the incident.
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5 Seconds of Summer
The Australian band from Sydney was established in 2011. The group achieved popularity after a tour with the pop group One Direction. The band, which started as Youtube celebrities, was also the first Australian act who topped the Billboard 200 albums chart three consecutive times. Just this March, their fourth album Calm debuted at number 2 spot.
Since the onset of the movement, 5 Seconds of Summer members have devoted their social media page to encourage their fans to support the Black Lives Matter and the activists that take part in the movement.
Michael Clifford is now staying in his house in Los Angeles since the start of the lockdown. Clifford shared in an interview with MTV News that the situation has been a cool test for bands and artists.
"I feel like it's pushed everyone creatively." He also shared that he is looking forward to being reunited with his bandmates once again.
Now that they are physically distant with the band and with their fans, Clifford finds it interesting trying to be limitless in connecting to people maximizing the internet.
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