A Twitter user has withdrawn allegations of sexual assault against 5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford, saying she mistook a lookalike for him. Clifford, 24, had earlier taken to Twitter to deny the accusations.
“holy [expletive]. 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 [expletive] upset,” wrote Clifford.
The Twitter user, who goes by Sophie H (@sophiectth5), wrote that she had attended a One Direction concert in 2013 and 5 Seconds of Summer were opening.
She wrote that someone in the crowd had slid their hand under her skirt and touched her chest; she had earlier named Clifford as the person who sexually assaulted her.
Music publication Heavy.com reported that Sophie was 14 at the time of the incident, though earlier tweets, which allegedly included her age, have now been deleted.
Sophie has now issued a new statement on Twitter, writing that her abuser is a deceased lookalike of Clifford.
“For YEARS and YEARS, I was convinced this person was Michael Clifford from 5SOS, I couldn’t even listen to their music without feeling sick to my stomach. And with everything that’s been said about him lately, I thought it was time to expose the one who made me hate music and concerts and crowded places,” she wrote in the statement.
She added that “something absolutely unexpected” led herself and her family to seek the “whole truth”.
“Today, I found out I’ve been wrong for almost seven years. Today I found out that my offender is dead. My offender is NOT MICHAEL CLIFFORD,” she stated.
Many Twitter users rallied around Sophie as she wrote she felt “sad, guilty and confused”.
Clifford had recently taken to Twitter to apologise for past offensive tweets.
He also posted a video of a crowd mobbing him and his bandmates in Montreal, in response to fans seeking further clarification around the sexual assault accusations.
“this is what life was like in 2013 — please understand it wouldve been logistically impossible for me to get through a crowd at a show i just played at! im not trying to be defensive i promise this is just so completely false,” wrote Clifford.
5 Seconds of Summer are an Australian pop rock band who formed in 2011.
