PWR BTTM’s debut album, Ugly Cherries, has returned to streaming services and iTunes. The record, which was originally released by Father/Daughter Records in 2015, was pulled from iTunes, Apple Music, Tidal, Google Play, and Amazon after allegations of sexual abuse and anti-Semitism were leveled against the band’s Ben Hopkins. No other PWR BTTM releases have returned to the digital platforms. According to Billboard, PWR BTTM’s team and their former label Polyvinyl have been unable to reach an agreement to re-release their sophomore album Pageant, which Polyvinyl stopped selling shortly after its release. A spokesperson for the label told Billboard, “Polyvinyl wishes to make the transition as easy as possible and has no desire to prevent the band from releasing Pageant once an agreement has been reached.”

In addition to re-releasing Ugly Cherries, PWR BTTM have announced that they are now working with Lisa Barbaris (Cyndi Lauper’s manager) and attorney Jeffrey Koenig. In a statement to Billboard, Barbaris said, “To see Polyvinyl derail and potentially destroy the band's career in such an impulsive manner is very troubling.” She continued, “I’ve never seen a label respond in such an irresponsible way in the 30-plus years I’ve been in the music business.” Koenig added, “PWR BTTM put a tremendous amount of time, effort, love and resources into creating and recording the body of work that would eventually become Pageant.... It is important that their former label allows their fans to hear this album.”

In May, shortly before the planned release of Pageant, Hopkins was accused of sexual assault by someone who said they have “personally seen” Hopkins “initiate inappropriate sexual contact with people despite several ‘nos’ and without warning or consent.” They also shared a photo of Hopkins posing next to a swastika symbol; the band previously addressed the photograph, which they said was taken in 2011. In their first statement after the accusations, the band said, “the alleged behavior is not representative of who Ben is.” The next day, an anonymous woman gave an interview to Jezebel detailing her alleged sexual assault by Hopkins. Opening bands also began to pull out of PWR BTTM’s tour, which was ultimately canceled. The next week—after they were dropped by Polyvinyl and their music was initially removed—the band released a new statement, in which Hopkins denied the allegations.

Read “Queer Kids Deserve Better Than PWR BTTM” on the Pitch.