The judge presiding over the libel case All Time Low filed against guitarist Jack Barakat's accuser subpoenaed Twitter to release "identifying information" about his accuser.
Barakat's accuser, only identified as Jane Doe 2, publicly accused the guitarist of sexual abuse in October 2021, reports say.
They alleged that Barakat sexually abused them in 2011, when they were 15 years old, and the guitarist was 22.
After a series of accusations thrown at the band, they finally addressed the situation. They denied all claims and singled out Jane Doe 2, noting that it was an "elaborate and completely fabricated story".
In court documents, All Time Low's legal team said they had "no choice but to mobilize and utilize the civil court system to identify the culprits, prove that the defamatory statements are false, and seek justice.
"The purpose of the lawsuit is to establish the unambiguous truth and quash these malicious lies so that they won't be repeated in the future."
It seems like the judge agrees because according to Rolling Stone, recent updates on the lawsuit revealed that the judge sided with the band and ordered Twitter to release Jane Doe's "identifying information."
Judge Daniel Murphy's ruling reads: "Plaintiffs cannot proceed with litigation without identifying Doe 2," noting that while the First Amendment protects the right to publish anonymously, it does not apply to defamation.
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Snowball
The libel case was spurred on by a number of accusers coming forward with allegations of sexual abuse from the band.
A TikTok video of another individual alleging that All Time Low "tried to take my bra for their nasty collection [and] offered me beers" went viral in October 2021. While they did not explicitly name the band, only referring to them as Without any evidence whatsoever, Doe 3 egregiously and falsely claimed that '97 allegations' had been made against the band, an accusation that spread like wildfire on the Internet." This person was only referred to as Jane Doe 1 on the paperwork.
Due to Jane Doe 1's claims, several others stepped forward with their allegations against All Time Low, including Jane Doe 2 and another person, referred to as Jane Doe 3.
According to NME, Jane Doe 3 also took to Twitter and wrote, "If 97 people aren't enough then I don't know what to tell you."
This allegation was also shut down by All Time Low's legal team, "Without any evidence whatsoever, Doe 3 egregiously and falsely claimed that '97 allegations' had been made against the band, an accusation that spread like wildfire on the Internet."
In October 2021, All Time Low released a statement via Twitter that proclaimed their innocence: "We felt that a response would have been elevated and escalated an outright lie, and in doing so, robbed actual victims of abuse their very real and very important collective voice."
