Singer-songwriter Garrett Clark Borns, known as BØRNS, hasn’t done a lot career-wise since multiple allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against the singer in 2018. The accusations come from women who say the singer was manipulative, showed predatory behaviour and groomed young fans. He recently released a new statement on his Instagram page about the allegations and it’s getting a lot of attention, so here’s an explanation of everything going on.
For those who’ve never heard of Børns, he’s an electro-pop/indie artist who released his first EP, A Dream Between, in 2012. His next EP peaked at number two on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. His first album, Dopamine, came out in 2015. It was a big hit and produced a hit single called “Electric Love,” which reached number 8 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.
His next album, Blue Madonna, came out in 2016 and produced another hit called “God Save Our Young Blood” with Lana Del Rey. That one peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Rock Airplay chart. His career was at an all-time high and he pretty much had it all – a loyal fanbase, a recognizable sound and of course, massive fame. Then suddenly it all went away.
The accusations
In Sept. 2018, music site Pitchfork published an article detailing the misconduct along with a statement from the singer himself. It all started when a woman shared a statement about Børns that didn’t mince words about what he did to her:
She said she met him at a concert by herself when she was 19 and they developed a friendship. She considered him a friend and he would ask her to meet up and send pics, but she said she didn’t want to end up as a one-night stand or as friends with benefits. She said he would go hot and cold on her depending on how she responded to his messages. Eventually, she was flying out to LA and he said to meet her for drinks. Turns out the meeting spot was his house. Things started out pretty serene, she said, but took a turn:
“Suddenly I became drunk and was completely taken advantage of. once everything happened I went to the bathroom and started bleeding. I was completely shocked from the blood and started to get it together and realized what just happened. I blamed myself for that night because I didn’t say no even though I was intoxicated.”
The next time they met up she said, “I actually let him talk me into using me…again. He did not use protection and didn’t care when I said I wasn’t comfortable with that and was not on birth control at the time.” After that, the floodgates opened, so to speak. Several other women came forward, including a 16-year-old who goes by the handle @alyssaadaniele. She said she met Børns at a music festival and said he invited her to his hotel room.
She said he started touching her leg, which she shrugged off, but then “he began going further up my leg, and started skimming me in other places. I want to add that he also was aware of how old I was, 16, yet he still touched me the way he did.” They stayed in touch and Børns asked her to call him “daddy,” something he called himself to her. She said his fetishes made her uncomfortable but she would still send him pictures and videos.
When she turned 18, “He got me drunk, started touching me, and we went into his bedroom. The things he did were things I did not want, and it hurt. He was aggressive and controlling and I was so fucking scared of him.” She later clarified that she didn’t “accuse him of r*pe, the sex was consensual. and happened when I was of age.”
This led to the Twitter account @exposing_borns being created. It’s stacked with stories from women who say they were manipulated by the singer. One in particular said that Børns “pushes and pushes, and the line in the sand moves further and further back, until at some point, you’re not walking on sand, you’re in the ocean and you are drowning.”
She said that “I didn’t recognize his behaviour as grooming until these extremely brave girls stepped forward, and by doing so, made it blatantly obvious it’s his pattern. … He gets a thrill out of manipulating, and making people not be able to recognise themselves.”
Another 19-year-old named Mathilda said that Børns would ask for nudes constantly and then ghost her if he didn’t send any. She said they spent two days together in Hamburg and that she “did not like the way he wanted to have sex [with] me.” and that he made her “very uncomfortable.”
The impact on his career
These allegations were naturally detrimental to the singer’s career. In a statement at the time (now taken down from his account), he said:
“I am both hurt and angered over the disturbing and false allegations that have been spread over the past few days on social media. All of the relationships I have had were legal and consensual. They ended abruptly and that obviously caused hurt feelings, but for anyone to suggest anything beyond that is irresponsible.”
He started getting dropped from festivals and shows and eventually stopped making music altogether, until July of 2023 when he released his third EP Suddenly. It wasn’t received as warmly as his other releases. Tweets at the time said things like “After almost 5 years of hiding from multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, Børns is releasing new music. Not sure how I feel about that,” and “Børns trying to come back 5 years later with a new album like we all forgot he’s a predator.”
This brings us to Feb. 22 of this year. Seemingly out of nowhere, Børns released a statement calling 2024 “the year of joy” and acknowledging that he had been away for the past five years. He said that his July release was “daunting” because social media had become a “source of fear and anxiety” to him. Regarding the allegations, he said that he was “caught off guard” by them and that they didn’t accurately represent his character. He then went further, saying that his “team” at the time shared “every article, comment, and opinion,” with him.
He was given a PR person and strongly advised not to apologize. He said he trusted his team and felt that they “knew better than I did.”
“This led me to release a brief, dismissive statement that wasn’t in my words, and that has never settled right with me.” The new post has almost 18k likes and 752 comments as of this writing. Many praise the singer for opening up about the allegations instead of ignoring them, and for talking about what he’s been growing through. Whether or not this will be enough to get his career back on track remains to be seen.