Real Estate have released a statement revealing that former guitarist Matt Mondanile, who parted ways with the band last year, was in fact fired from the group after “allegations of unacceptable treatment of women.”
The band provided the statement to SPIN after the outlet heard from “multiple sources close to [the band]” about the allegations. Mondanile, who supposedly left Real Estate to focus on his Ducktails project, also had that name dropped from the Domino lineup of artists. Ducktails new album, Jersey Devil, was released under Mondanile’s own New Images label.
According to SPIN, the allegations were brought to the attention of the band via newer drummer Jackson Pollis, who reportedly presented the group with an ultimatum to fire Mondanile or lose Pollis as a bandmate. While the band’s statement does not confirm or deny that situation, it does confirm the real reason for Mondanile’s departure, which officially occurred in February of last year:
Matt Mondanile was fired in February 2016 when allegations of unacceptable treatment of women were brought to our attention. While we urged him to seek counseling at the time of termination, we are no longer in contact. We feel that any abuse of one’s power or status to victimize another is completely unacceptable. We applaud the courage of the women who came forward to make us aware so that we could address the issue head on.
SPIN reports that Mondanile reached out to them to delay an upcoming longer-form story that will include “stories from multiple women” until he was able to speak with them on the phone. As of now, SPIN notes that that story will be released “at some point in the coming days.”
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