Welp, I suppose it was only a matter of time until this happened. Troy “TUL$A” Datsik spent 7 whole minutes shirking responsibility for his actions in one of the most disingenuous and self-gratifying videos I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching. For those of you who don’t know, Datsik was accused of both drugging, and sexually assaulting, female fans who his tour manager had selected to join him on his bus during multiple tours. Claims were made that unsuspecting women were given backstage passes with the label “TUL$A” (A SLUT) backward written on them, and led to his tour bus. 

There’s a lot to unpack in the 7 minutes where he continues to discuss the “introspection” he’s done over the last 18 months, but in none of his rambling does he actually apologize, or address the reasons that he was removed from his own label, and blacklisted from the scene last year. Multiple times in his scripted “apology,” he tries to push his actions off on his “anxiety and depression,” and even goes so far as to mention that his whole family has a history with these illnesses. Not only does this completely obscure the real reason that he’s been shunned from our community, but it diminishes those of us who struggle with these illnesses every day and still manage not to assault people. Thankfully, most of the scene isn’t having it.

Unfortunately, however, it seems as though he is planning to come back, and some of his fanbase still wants to cling to the idea that he’s innocent since formal charges were never brought against him. This will be an important moment for the scene moving forward, and I hope that we end up on the right side of things and keep this kind of behavior out of our space. 

It certainly doesn’t help his position that his new look is apparently “I belong on a repeat offender’s list” chic.