In the fallout of the recent sexual harassment scandal that has rocked the local independent music scene, concert promotors and sponsors have started to withdraw their support for the bands named in the numerous allegations.
Already dropped from the line-up of the coming “The Rest is Noise Year-End” concert and the “Maskipaps” music festival, Jensen and the Flips have now also lost their partnership with Coca-Cola.
Jensen and the Flips were among the featured artists in “Coke Studio Philippines,” a weekly television series that was created to be a musical platform to promote Original Pilipino Music.
“In light of the recent allegations involving one of the artists in Coke Studio, the Company has decided to terminate our partnership with the band, Jensen and the Flips,” Coke said in a statement.
“Coca-Cola is firm in our commitment of cultivating an environment that respects women — not only within our workplace — but in how we do our business and campaigns….#CokeStudioPH was created to serve as an inspiration to the youth; and will remain as an avenue that fosters a culture of respect and dignity through the songs we create and the collaborations we make,” went the rest of the statement.
In an earlier statement, Jensen and the Flips earlier apologized and admitted wrongdoing.
“An apology will never be enough to make up for all of the things that [we] have been done in the past. We know the things we did wrong; rest assured we have, and will continue to work on being better individuals moving forward to ensure that such situations will not happen again…” the band wrote.
At the same time, the band also anticipated losing gigs and partnerships as a result.
“Trust was lost with productions, event organizers, partners, and supporters. We know that this is hard to rebuild, and respect their decisions regarding established commitments with Jensen and the Flips,” they acknowledged.
Jensen and the Flips are among several bands mentioned in the controversial Twitter thread that began with a series of tweets by University of the Philippines sociology student Adrienne Onday (@_tapsilog on Twitter). Other bands mentioned by either Onday or the mostly anonymous female netizens have come forward included Ang Bandang Shirley, Sud, MilesExperience and Paranoid City.
Sud and Ang Bandang Shirley have also issued their own statements of apology on the controversy.
