Deafheaven always seemed like a bunch of swell guys playing some black metal tunes. Sure, there was a seemingly never-ending backlash against them on my Facebook feed because of the adoration given to them by the mainstream music community, but I never let the hype get to me.
Which is why it's incredibly disappointing to learn that over the weekend, certain screenshots have surfaced on The PRP painting founding guitarist Kerry McCoy as a bit of a homophobe:
There is much to be confused about with these tweets. First off, it should be noted that these are from three years ago and the reason they didn't surface then is likely because nobody really knew who Deafheaven was three years ago. Also, what exactly is he responding to? Sure, it could be hate directed his way but as we've pointed out many times in the past, using "faggot" as a retort is unacceptable and, personally, shows to me you're not clever enough to come up with an actual insult.
As one of our correspondents points out on Twitter, it's certainly shitty behavior, but it's entirely possible he got called out 3 years ago and had a change of heart. With the internet being permanent, there is no reason that McCoy hasn't deleted those tweets yet, but maybe he has.McCoy has yet to make a statement on the matter, but has turned his Twitter account private, only displaying a cover photo of Morrisey, a noted out homosexual.
That hasn't stopped some music fans to launch a petition to get the band banned from playing Pitchfork Festival forever, which you can see here. The petition has a measly eight entries at this point.
