Warning: this article contains descriptions of, and references to, acts of abuse
Scott Kelly, co-founding member of the Californian metal band Neurosis, has confessed to incidents of "emotional, financial, verbal and physical abuse" against his wife and children.
In a post shared via his personal Facebook page on Saturday (August 27), Kelly said he felt the need to "address some rumours and set the record straight." In the post, he then went on to detail a number of incidents of abuse and also confirmed that he was permanently retiring from his career "as a professional musician."
In the Facebook post, Kelly said: "I became obsessed with control and used threats, manipulation, threats of self-harm and suicide, inflicted physical damage on people and their reputations all to keep that control. When I knew my wife was going to leave I tried to convince her and others that I was crazy, and seeing things, and that I did not know what I was doing. She tried to help me with therapy and psychiatrists. My lies and deceptions fell apart in front of the professionals.
"When my wife finally tried to leave, I stalked and harassed her day and night and caused her and our youngest to live in a constant state of fear. I have lied or told half truths to so many people about so much of this that I can’t keep track of them. I don’t want to lie about any of this anymore."
Responding to Kelly’s public statement, Neurosis shared their own statement in response, in which they revealed that Kelly had been quietly fired from the band in 2019 when his bandmates discovered the extent of his abuse against his family. They had not revealed that he had left the band at the time, they said, "out of respect for his wife’s direct request for privacy, and to honour the family’s wish not to let their experience become gossip in a music magazine."
Speaking further, the band said that they "cannot overstate the level of disgust and disappointment we feel for a man who we once called Brother." Though Kelly had previously "disclosed his marital difficulties and acts of verbal abuse, as well as his intention to get help and change his behaviours," they said, "the information we learned in 2019 made it clear Scott had crossed a line and there was no way back."
The band added: "Since 2019, we have made numerous attempts to contact Scott. We wanted to have an honest talk about the status of the band and find out how he and his family were doing, but he has refused to speak with us for three years. And, in what we now see clearly to be a pattern, Scott refused to take responsibility for his actions. Having been through so much with someone for more than 35 years, one would expect some amount of closure, or at the very least a response."
Kelly formed Neurosis in 1985 with bassist Dave Edwardson and drummer Jason Roeder. He went on to release 12 studio albums as part of the band, with the most recent of those – Fires Within Fires – coming out in 2016. He also played in Mastodon and Shrinebuilder during his career as a musician, and released three solo albums.
