Otep Shamaya seems like a pretty reasonable woman from what little I've read about her, if not conversational and interesting. So in the midst of her allegations against Terror Universal's frontman claiming he grabbed her crotch, which eventually got both Otep and Terror Universal off their current tour with Ill Niño and the like, it make sense she'd reach out and try to clarify exactly what happened.
Shamaya said to MetalSucks:
This was during the meet and greet. We had the entire floor lined up waiting for their opportunity to come out and myabe buy a t-shirt or take a photograph. Suddenly I hear from off in the corner, “What the fuck is this?” And then some guy who I don’t even know… I was never introduced to him at all, they wear masks on stage and they never took the time to introduce themselves. I know Dave [Chavarri, also of Ill Nino], their drummer, I’ve known him for a long time, he and I are friends. But this gentleman, the singer for Terror Universal, I’ve never met before. He pushed through our security, pushed past our merchandise guy and walked right up to me and shoved his hand between my legs. I don’t want to get too graphic because it’s extremely upsetting and emotionally disturbing, but he shoved his hand between my legs and tried to force his fingers through my pants. At that time I shoved him away.
I stand on a chair and put one leg up on the merch table so I can reach, because I’m 5 foot 5 and I’ve got a lot of 6 foot 5 fans. In order for me to get good pictures with them I need to be up higher than I am sitting down. Plus I don’t want to sit down when I meet my fans; I want to meet them face to face and shake their hand. So I put one leg up on the table and one leg on the chair and he just walked right up and did that.
He was obviously drunk, which is still no excuse, but still. He had done similar things to the male members of my band. He grabbed every member of my band’s penis while they were carrying gear. He would just walk up to them and not just paint-brush it, but physically grab a hold of it. They were telling him to chill out.
After that happened I told them that was it, they were off the tour. I called my tour manager over and I said they’re done. Security dragged him out of the venue. His band put him in a van and from what I understand drove him away from the venue as quick as possible because they were afraid I was gonna call the police. I got calls from Dave, the drummer, who is also their manager, and he was begging me, “Please don’t do that, we’ll fire him, we’ll get the singer from Thira (the other opening band on the tour), please don’t kick us off the tour.” I said, “I’m sorry, I can’t do that, I can’t take that chance, I’ve been violated.”
Drunk dude sexually assaults a woman? How unreasonable. No drunk dude has ever done something heinous like that! Just from my limited perspective on the situation, I really don't see why she'd lie about something like this or why there would be any reason to just point blank fabricate a story. There have been accusations that Shamaya is saying what she said to get out of the tour because of monetary reasons, to which she basically says she's doing just fine.
"I have been playing music for 14 years, I’ve got seven album, I’ve written seven books. I do voice-over work as a voice-over actor: I was just featured in the last Hobbit movie, I was on the Playstation game The Last Of Us, I’ve done other films, I have a merchandise company. I’m a working class artist, I do very well, and I don’t need to extort anybody for anything. The idea that I would use such a heinous act as a lie to try and get money is so upsetting and just ridiculous. And again, this is what victims have to face when they come out and tell the truth and this is why so many woman hide it: because they don’t want this kind of unwanted attention."
I guess we'll hear more soon? For Shamaya's sake I hope this is the end of the whole thing, but if the allegations turn out to be true then here's hoping Terror Universal guy gets his. You can hear her entire recounting on the MetalSucks Podcast
