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"I didn't realize she was a minor and assumed she was my age," says the musician, after Alabama called him out on Instagram.
UPDATE at 4:00pm PT on 8/2/19: Graham Sierota's family released a new statement hoping to "clear up the deeply hurtful mischaracterizations" of the musician. According to the family -- including bandmates and siblings Sydney and Noah and parents Linda and Jeffrey Sierota -- Graham was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder as a child and, in turn, "has difficulty understanding social cues."
UPDATE at 7:15am PT on 8/2/19: Alabama accepted Sierota's apology, posting on her Instagram Stories, "Hey guys! I am posting on behalf of the drummer of Echosmith! He had dmed me a while back in 2016 and then once again in July saying I was beautiful and invited me to a bbq and invited me to a bbq at his house. He is very sorry about the situation and regretful I forgive him and would like for this to be over.
Original story below...
20-year-old musician Graham Sierota from the band Echosmith says he made a "careless mistake" when he sent messages to Travis Barker's daughter, Alabama, on social media.
The 13-year-old reportedly exposed Sierota for DMing her on Instagram, beginning with a message from 2016 when she was just 10. "By the way I'm Graham from echosmith and I think ur beautiful," read one of his first messages, which went unanswered by Alabama.
Then, in mid-July of this year, he sent her an invitation to a BBQ. About a week after, she responded saying "Ur like 40." In response, he wrote, "I just wanted to say i really like ur music and sorry for messaging and I'm 20."
She responded, "Ok but u understand I'm a child?", before sharing screenshots to her Instagram Stories with the caption, "Hey guys! So once again I am bringing this to your attention because I'm a 13 year old girl and he is 21/20 super creepy." She also tagged Echosmith's official account in the Stories, which expired from her page after 24 hours.
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Graham later admitted he sent the invitation this month and apologized for doing so.
"I had invited Alabama to my parents' big family BBQ along with many other people, and it wasn't until she responded that I realized her age at which point I apologized to her," said the musician.
"I'm really sorry and feel very badly about this. I didn't realize she was a minor and assumed she was my age," the statement continued. "I made a careless mistake and this is a big lesson for me. I would like to apologize again to Alabama, her dad Travis, and her family."
TooFab has reached out to publicists for Travis Barker and Echosmith for additional comment.
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