Sigur Ros Drummer Orri Páll Dýrason Accused of Sexual Assault

Orri Páll Dýrason, the drummer for Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Ros, has been accused of sexual assault. Instagram user @yinshadowz, aka artist Meagan Boyd, detailed an account of an assault at the hands of Dýrason in a post. She claimed that Dýrason assaulted her while she slept after the pair spent a night out together in 2013.

Boyd claims that she did not share the story during the peak of the #MeToo movement because it gave her extreme anxiety. Following Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony about her alleged assault at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Boyd said she felt compelled to share her story.

Boyd also shared screenshots of an email ostensibly sent by Dýrason, in which he denies the accusation, writing that he “cannot understand why you would want to publicly accuse me of something I did not do.” He claims that Boyd offered to drive him home from the club, and that they had a “nice night of drinking and drawing” at his flat. Paste was not able to verify that Dýrason engaged in the exchange posted to Instagram.

Read Boyd’s full account via the text of her initial Instagram post below. Paste has reached out to Boyd and representatives for Sigur Ros for more information—watch this space for further updates.

In January of 2013 I was sexually assaulted by a member of the band @sigurros when they were in Los Angeles recording an album that was set to come out later that same year. My assailant’s name is Orri Páll Dýrason. I never reported it. I never expressed my pain publicly. I harbored this ache now for almost 6 years… for many reasons. I felt no one would believe me, I felt I had been irresponsible for trusting him just because he was in a band I loved and I respected him as an artist. I was drunk, and I had met him at a club (I had a brief period in which I was a dancer at a club called “the body shop”), I also engaged in a kiss with him before falling asleep in the same bed, after that I completely knocked out. I woke up with the feeling of being penetrated without my consent during a deep slumber.. it happened twice that night, and I wondered myself why I didn’t leave after the first time- but I was drunk, dead tired, in shock, and this was right before I ever heard of anything like Uber/lyft … but none of that should matter because no one deserves to be raped/touched/licked/fucked without CONSENT. (((My heart is racing and I’m shaking just typing this.))) I wasn’t ready to go public in the midst of the hype of the #metoo movement because just speaking about it gives me intense anxiety and I was about to give birth to my first child. In the wake of the news of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford calling out Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, I was triggered to speak out myself. Ironically, he’s now engaged to feminist activist who is also the founder of the Icelandic Slut walk. #endrapeculture

Update #1: After her second Instagram post was taken down, Boyd shared a new post explaining its disappearance from her account.

I made a post following up with some information about my abuser/rapist getting in touch with me, gaslighting, and trying to silence me as well as denying what he did to me in 2013 in which he raped me 2 times over the course of a night spent with him during his stay in Los Angeles recording an album. I posted screen shots of his correspondence with me via email and they were flagged by someone and removed by @instagram for not following community standards. I did not remove them myself. I understand if they may have violated Instagrams standards of privacy so I will not repost on here but they have been sent to a major broadcasting network in Iceland. I will not back down or be silenced or gaslighted. I know what happened and I will not forget. This has not been easy for me or my family but it is my duty to expose him as a sexual predator who should not be in a woman’s safe place. Today is the first time I truly wanted to cry as I’ve pushed down and repressed my trauma for years. This is not over. This is only the beginning. His name is Orri Páll Dýrason and he is in a band called @sigurros I’m looking to speak with a lawyer as well- this story is beginning to build momentum and hype and some legal advice would be appreciated.

Update #2: Orri Páll Dýrason has resigned from Sigur Ros in light of the allegations against him.

Update #3: Boyd’s Instagram account has since been set to private—we have replaced her previously embedded Instagram posts with the text from their captions.