Garry Beers, the bass guitarist of the band INXS, has responded strongly to claims made by his daughter that he is a neglectful father.
In a statement issued via his lawyers, the musician said he was “deeply hurt and saddened” at a first-person article in the Australian in which Lucy Mae Beers described him as a “man who thrived on a diet of sex, drugs, and rock and roll”.
Under the headline, Thanks a lot, Dad, you did tear us apart, the 22-year-old said Beers had a Peter Pan syndrome and abandoned his children “like stray dogs”.
“Lucy makes a series of hurtful allegations against me, each of which is untrue,” writes Beers in his statement. “She claims that I slept with a backup singer while my pregnant wife was at home with a brand new Harley Davidson she had bought for me. This is untrue.
“She claims that I am married to ‘the woman who used to wait for him outside of gigs while his family were inside’. This is also untrue. I did not meet my current wife, Jourdan, until five years after my first wife and I were divorced.
“Jourdan has never stood outside a gig while my family were inside. I didn’t even know Jourdan at the time this supposedly took place. The last show that my ex-wife and the girls attended was the Stadium Australia concert in 2000 with Terrance Trent Darby.”
“I am not perfect and I am the first to admit it,” writes Beers. “Yes, I had an affair during the 1997 [INXS] tour. This was the only affair I ever had, and I told my then wife straight away.”
Beers divorced Lucy Mae’s mother Jodie Crampton 13 years ago and lives in Los Angeles with his new wife Jourdan and their twin daughters.
Beers writes: “To have such cruel, blatant lies written about Jourdan and published around the world is devastating to us both.”
Responding to his elder daughter’s suggestions that the pair are in contact “less than a dozen” times a year and that she is “lucky to get an email on her birthday”, Beers quotes a friendly email exchange between them discussing the recent INXS mini-series, Never Tear Us Apart.
“I am saddened that my daughter has chosen now, as she seeks to embark on a career in journalism, to publish this story,” writes Beers. “If she really does believe all of these untruths about me, I wish she had just picked up the phone.
Beers’ statement was released by a PR consultant via the Australian law firm Kennedy Partners. The musician said he would be seeking legal action against media outlets who published his daughter’s claims.
“I find it inexcusable that the media has published these exaggerations and falsehoods without even attempting to contact me for comment,” he wrote.
