NEEDTOBREATHE‘s Bear Rinehart is talking out following allegations of childhood abuse made by his brother Bo Rinehart.
On Thursday (June 12), 43-year-old Bo, the previous guitarist for NEEDTOBREATHE, shared a press release on social media alleging that he was sexually abused by a number of folks throughout his childhood, together with his older brother Bear, 44, the rock band’s lead singer.
“That is Bo. I’m an alcoholic. I’m a sinner, however I’m a believer. I imagine in God’s grace, and I imagine that his mercy has proven that he’s constant, though we don’t deserve it,” Bo wrote on Instagram. “I’m a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I’ve been sexually abused by a Camp counselor. I’ve been sexually, bodily and emotionally abused by my brother. And I’ve been abused by my youth pastor.”
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He continued, “I imagine that God has larger plans for me and a part of these plans are telling my story as a result of it’s so arduous for anybody to inform tales like these. Even when my religion has been crushed, I do know that God nonetheless has provisions for me. When you’re on the market and also you’re considering, nothing will be accomplished, nobody may also help, there’s no method out… I’m with you… however I imagine in a God who all the time finds a method. Don’t surrender and don’t lose hope.”
Bo, who left NEEDTOBREATHE in 2020, later shared a photograph of Bear with the caption “Sexual Abuser” in a since-deleted Instagram Story, in line with Related Journal.
On Saturday (June 14), Bear responded to his brother’s allegations with a prolonged put up on the Instagram account for Wilder Woods, his solo musical venture outdoors of NEEDTOBREATHE.
“I really feel the necessity to touch upon the deeply hurtful and deceptive accusations that my brother Bo made the opposite night time on social media,” Bear wrote. “I really like Bo deeply and I all the time will. Since his departure from the band over 5 years in the past, we’ve accomplished every little thing in our energy to deal with him with respect and privateness. I’d by no means select to disparage him, particularly at a time the place he’s clearly in ache. However as a father and husband, I have to shield my household from claims that misrepresent the reality.”
He continued, “Till now, I had chosen to not share this publicly — not as a result of I’m ashamed, however as a result of I’ve wished to guard my household. I’ve three younger boys, and I wished them to listen to about my story from me instantly, when the time is correct and never by way of social media or on-line hypothesis. Bo’s put up has now made it inconceivable for me to stay non-public about this era of our childhood any longer. I can solely hope that God has a plan for this down the highway. I’ve all the time revered Bo’s proper to talk about his personal story, however I can not permit him to misrepresent mine.”
Bear went on to say that “my brother and I had been each sexually abused on the age of 8 and 6 by a teenage counselor” at a Christian camp the place they grew up in South Carolina. “Neither of us obtained help for these occasions till properly into maturity and had been each left to navigate the remainder of childhood and adolescence with deep ache and confusion,” the musician wrote, including that he later “discovered freedom” after counseling and help from family members.
“Bo’s current accusation of me conflates our shared expertise of abuse with a childhood incident he misrepresents,” Bear continued. “Whereas going by way of a two day intensive counseling session with Bo 5 years in the past, I realized that he was harm by issues that occurred in our early teen years as properly. At that counseling session I took full duty for any half I performed in that ache. We processed these moments of shared trauma intimately and left with an understanding that we had been two younger boys attempting to deal with the unimaginable. To now label me an abuser in such a heartless method is just not solely deeply painful, however can also be wildly deceptive and feels deliberately dangerous.”
Bear concluded his message by expressing hope that he and Bo can reconcile sometime. “I really do pray for this therapeutic,” he wrote. “I imagine that each one of us are broke and in want of a savior. My brother and I aren’t any completely different.”
Billboard has reached out to NEEDTOBREATHE’s representatives for additional remark.
In a 2023 interview with Folks, Bo opened up about coming to phrases together with his expertise of sexual abuse as an grownup, revealing that it was perpetrated by three completely different people. He didn’t present additional particulars.
“It takes time,” Bo mentioned on the time. “Sooner or later in our lives, we get to this stage — and it’s typically with survivors of childhood sexual abuse, it’s of their late 30s or early 40s — the place it begins to floor whether or not you need it to or not. You’ll begin to see how your life’s sort of breaking down.”
When you or somebody has skilled sexual assault, you’ll be able to name the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
