New Jersey-based hardcore rock band Gel was on the verge of a major breakthrough, slated to play at the legendary Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival — until they announced their break up suddenly in a long social media post last week.
“Gel is no longer a band, and therefore will not be playing any of our currently scheduled upcoming shows,” the statement read.
Just before the announcement, band members Anthony Webster (guitarist), Sami Kaiser (singer), Matthew Bobko (bassist), Madison Nave (guitarist) and Alex Salter (drummer), had returned from the Australian leg of their tour. That’s when it seems that members discovered that guitarist Webster had stolen tens of thousands of dollars from them. He allegedly was able to do so after gaining sole access to the band’s group bank account.
Not only did the guitarist use the money to pay for his basic living expenses like rent and food, he also spent “a truly unbelievable number of OnlyFans purchases and mysterious CashApp transactions likely in the same lane,” according to a statement released by the band.
The statement continued: “It’s affected us as human beings more than we can even attempt to explain, to the point of being completely unable to do the band anymore.”
The accusations didn’t end with stealing money for OnlyFans. Webster is also accused of leaking nude photos of other band members to Reddit. The band members discovered this betrayal because Webster didn’t cover his tracks well, but they have no idea why he would have done that.
The band said, “Absolute misery and reconsideration for anyone and everyone around him (well, except for the people who he wanted to impress and would feign being a nice guy to,)” comparing their experience with the guitarist to being in an abusive relationship.
In addition to the theft and the leaking of nude photos, Webster also allegedly smashed their van window after provoking online fights, drove erratically to the point of endangering band members, and displayed physical aggression toward them.
“It’s not so easy to just give something up that you care so much about, especially pressures from outside organizations, people, etc. that are all counting on you in some way. We wish that this could have all been easier, and we wish that it didn’t have to end this way.”
The members had been together since the band was formed in 2018, and seem to be truly sorry for breaking up. Their statement also apologized to fans: “We’d like to send our most sincere and deepest apologies to anyone who this is affecting on a personal level and beyond. We are so sorry that we have to end it this way and we truly hope for the best for all of you.”
This decision effectively cancels all their future shows, including tours with bands like Spiritbox, Volbeat, and Anxious. And yes, that appearance at Coachella is also canceled. It’s not clear what the rest of the band plans to do going forward, but many Gel fans hope to see some kind of reunion in the future — with or without Webster.