DIIV’s Devin Ruben Perez Under Fire for Sexist, Racist, Homophobic Remarks on 4chan
Photo by Tom Spray
A Tumblr called Sexism in Music has a series of posts which assert that DIIV bassist Devin Ruben Perez (pictured far left) wrote sexist, racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic remarks on the website 4chan. Representatives for DIIV have been contacted and offered no comment on the story.
According to the blog, Perez has been posting under the name “Devin-Chan”. Sexism in Music pointed to remarks about Perfect Pussy’s Meredith Graves (who is called “a bitch” and rated based on her perceived attractiveness), Grimes’ Claire Boucher (“I find her physically repulsive”), and Zomby (“That nigger is the biggest troll ever”). They also point to the repeated use of the term “faggot” and an anti-Semitic joke (“I’m a good goyim. Every time a Rabbi gets close, I shout out for my friend Burnstein and tell him to leave me alone unless they want to break their shmageggi, oy vey”).
DIIV’s Zachary Cole Smith responded to these allegations on Twitter, confirming at one point that he’d spoken to Perez about what he’d written.
I will never EVER tolerate sexism, racism, homophobia, bullying, or bigotry of any kind. I’m doing everything to get to the bottom of this
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
I’m so fucking disgusted. so fucking angry.
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@Xenomorphica what should I do/say instead? true I haven’t seen the context, but certain words have no place anywhere no matter the context
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@87uytr well of course i am talking to him. a lot to say/ask, but also felt it was important to share my feelings on the subject immediately
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@samantha_s_1278 I was shocked. I love http://t.co/mTRxzyB0Ua and always fantasize about participating while reading youtube comments etc
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@samantha_s_1278 but unlike people who express those truly offensive sentiments that comprise http://t.co/mTRxzyB0Ua, Devin is NOT a racist
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@samantha_s_1278 yes they are hurtful. in fact the whole 4chan site itself is basically a clusterfuck of offensiveness. I find the (1/2)
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@samantha_s_1278 questions to be even more offensive than his answers. but neither of them belong anywhere in public discourse. (2/2)
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@samantha_s_1278 no woman EVER deserves to be called a b***h, regardless of context. no person should ever be singled out and name-called.
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@Jason__McCray the point is that certain words R 100% unacceptable no matter what. especially when directed at another person, and publicly
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@Jason__McCray it’s very important now because clearly a lot of people think it’s ok to call a woman a b****h just so long as it’s on 4chan
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@Jason__McCray and that’s not even the worst of it. unfortunately, context doesn’t do a single thing to suck the violence out of these words
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
@lewisrmh that’s obviously my main concern. all are very disturbing to me. I never directly addressed any specific word except in response
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
Yes, I understand it is 4chan “lingo”. But everybody who types that word knows what it really means and how much violence is attached to it.
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
All media who covers this is implicated in propagating spewings of an underbelly internet culture who r numb to the violence of their words
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
I’m hurt by the whole situation but especially by opportunistic media forming a sentence “DIIV …sexist/racist” just for cheap click fodder
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
There are actual humans behind all this. One woman is now being called a “b****h” across many national music sites. This isn’t music news.
— DIIV (@DIIV) December 14, 2014
Since the news surfaced yesterday, Perez has only tweeted once: a link to the video for Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’”.
Update 12/14 6:30p.m.: Sky Ferreira has responded to the situation, and Perez has responded to her:
I used to like this website because it was like having direct communication with people & being able to speak my mind without being filtered
— Sky Ferreira (@skyferreira) December 14, 2014
Now it’s just another “source” to get attention & manipulate someone else’s words & bully people. That’s a shame.
— Sky Ferreira (@skyferreira) December 14, 2014
Please leave @DIIV alone. He had nothing to do with what happened. He had to say something because it’s his band.
— Sky Ferreira (@skyferreira) December 14, 2014
He didn’t talk about personal matters/feelings about Devin. He said that DIIV doesn’t support or tolerate racism/homophobia/sexism.
— Sky Ferreira (@skyferreira) December 14, 2014
This has nothing to do with me but I just have one more thing to say (lol):
— Sky Ferreira (@skyferreira) December 14, 2014
I’m not defending anything he did & or agree with the stupid/careless shit he said at all. It’s really disappointing because…
— Sky Ferreira (@skyferreira) December 14, 2014
…I’ve never ever known Devin to be a remotely hateful person. It just doesn’t make sense. I hope we can all learn from his mistakes.
— Sky Ferreira (@skyferreira) December 14, 2014
@skyferreira I’m not sexist, racist or a misogynist and anyone who knows me knows that. I just said some dumb shit on an anime message board
— Devin Ruben Perez (@sserpent) December 14, 2014
@skyferreira here are my famous “misogynist” words before the media butchered them pic.twitter.com/SyQDidr95x
— Devin Ruben Perez (@sserpent) December 14, 2014
@sserpent I know you that you aren’t. That’s what I just said
— Sky Ferreira (@skyferreira) December 14, 2014
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