I started listening to Rex Orange County in my senior year of high school and he became one of my most-loved artists. The combination of unique beats and his smooth voice made each song different, and he quickly became Gen Z’s new favorite musician. I fell into a routine of blasting his albums Pony and Who Cares? in the car on the way home from work or school, and had the best time at his concert this summer. Rex appeared to have the ‘it’ factor and all the cards were falling into place, until a few weeks ago when a news headline caused my jaw to be on the floor.
At the exact moment that the news broke, I was sitting in Wilbur Cross, trying to be a productive student, listening to Loving is Easy by the one and only, when my group chat was going crazy. As the messages frantically popped up all I could think to myself is that surely my friends were mistaken. I immediately went to Twitter to see what everyone was saying and I was so devastated that I could not process what was happening.
On October 10, the beloved English singer, Alexander O’Connor, was shockingly brought up on six counts of sexual assault charges. The 24-year-old allegedly assaulted a 16-year-old woman six times, over the span of 2 days, earlier in June this year. Not too many details have been released, but Alex denies the allegations, and the trial is set for January 3rd of next year. According to The Sun, a representative for Rex Orange County said: “Alex is shocked by the allegations which he denies and looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
In July, it was announced on O’Connor’s Twitter that the rest of his Who Cares? Tour would be canceled due to “unforeseen personal circumstances.” Initially, fans were concerned for the musician and his well-being, but in light of recent news they have begun to piece the puzzle together, and it can be speculated that the real reason was due to the accusations.
All the speculation over celebrities in the past few months has raised attention to the age-old debate: can you separate art from the artist? It seems like you can’t support anyone without being disheartened by their actions later. Celebrity worship can become problematic when people disaffiliate them from being human. It is important to realize that no one is invincible and celebrities have the capability of doing horrendous things just like anyone else. I think what draws Rex Orange County away from other artists caught up in scandals is that Alex was seen by many as someone who is comforting. He had the image of being a sweet English boy who wrote songs about relationships and love, and when the drama broke loose, it was particularly surprising.
It is unclear what the future holds for O’Connor and what the trajectory of his music career will be like. Many fans have already stopped supporting him and removed all of his songs from their playlists even though the outcome has yet to be decided. The only thing fans can do now is patiently wait and anticipate what happens next.