Joan Jett, and former bandmate Cherie Currie, claim they never saw Kim Fowley rape Jackie Fuchs.
Joan Jett, and former bandmate Cherie Currie, claim they never saw Kim Fowley rape Jackie Fuchs. Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com

• Last week, Runaways' bassist Jackie Fuchs (known as Jackie Fox during her time with the band) told the story of how she was raped by the group's producer Kim Fowley on New Year's Eve 1975. The story was reported by Jason Cherkis for The Huffington Post, and Fuchs also claimed that her bandmates, including Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, watched Fowley rape her.

Both Currie and Jett have responded, disputing Fuchs' allegations.

Jett made a statement via Yahoo Music on Friday, simply stating:

Anyone who truly knows me understands that if I was aware of a friend or bandmate being violated, I would not stand by while it happened. For a group of young teenagers thrust into ’70s rock stardom there were relationships that were bizarre, but I was not aware of this incident. Obviously Jackie’s story is extremely upsetting and although we haven’t spoken in decades, I wish her peace and healing.

On Saturday, Currie responded in a similar manner on her Facebook page, saying:

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Fuchs is very aware of both responses. She took to her own Facebook page this morning to address the public's response to her story, including that of both her former bandmates.

An excerpt below:

I know some people watching the online drama unfold have been discouraged by the lack of support I’ve received from my former bandmates. To which I can only say that I hope you never have to walk in their shoes. My rape was traumatic for everyone, not just me, and everyone deals with trauma in their own way and time. It took exceptional courage for many of the witnesses to talk frankly about how they felt. Most have apologized to me for their inaction that night — apologies that have been unnecessary, though welcome.

My rape also left scars on Victory and the other people who only experienced indirectly what happened that night. It can’t have been easy to listen to the way the band treated me after I left (treatment I was mercifully unaware of at the time). All I can say about what was said and done is that my bandmates were children who’d witnessed something criminal and tragic. I’ve no doubt they were dealing with it as best they were able. They had no responsible adults to guide them – only a rapist and his apologists.

If I am disappointed in one thing, it is that the story has become about who knew what when and who did or didn’t do what. That isn’t the story at all. It would be nice if everyone who was there the night I was raped could talk about how it has affected them over the years. But if they don’t want to talk it about, I respect that. It’s taken me years to talk about it without shame. I can only imagine what it must have been like to have watched it happen.

I only wish that if my bandmates can’t remember what happened that night – or if they just remember it differently –they would stick simply to saying that. By asserting that if they’d witnessed my rape, they’d have done something about it, they perpetuate the very myth I was trying to dispel when I decided to tell my story. Being a passive bystander is not a “crime.” All of us have been passive bystanders at some point in our lives.

If we have any hope at all of putting an end to incidents like these, we need to stop doubting the accusers and start holding rapists, abusers and bullies accountable. What we don’t need to do is point fingers at those who weren’t to blame for their actions.

You can read Fuchs' full statement here.