Max Bemis #

Introduction #

Max Bemis is an American musician best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter of the rock band Say Anything, the frontman of the supergroup Two Tongues, and one half of the duo Perma alongside his former wife, Sherri DuPree; he has also written comic books for Marvel, including “X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever” and “Foolkiller: Psycho Therapy.” In late August 2026, Bemis — who turned 42 that April — became the subject of publicly posted allegations that he had exchanged flirtatious and inappropriate messages with teenage fans, allegations built on screenshots published to the Say Anything subreddit by a 17-year-old girl. Within days, his band postponed his upcoming acoustic performances citing his health, and his would-be collaborator Nathan Williams of Wavves publicly disowned him, declaring “I don’t want to be associated with the guy.”

Background Information #

Bemis founded Say Anything in the early 2000s and has been the band’s constant creative force across two decades of albums, touring, and line-up changes. Beyond the band, he recorded with Chris Conley in Two Tongues and with DuPree in Perma, and built a parallel career as a comic book writer for Marvel Comics. In 2025, Bemis and DuPree announced their separation after sixteen years of marriage. In July 2026, Say Anything and the band Wavves announced “Cherry Soda,” a collaborative album, and released its lead single, “Deathx1k”; in the announcement press release, Bemis said the two artists “kind of wrote to each other’s situations,” adding, “we get along really well.” The album was scheduled for release on September 18, 2026, and Bemis had a short run of solo acoustic shows on his calendar, beginning that Friday.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

On August 31, 2026, Stereogum reported that Bemis had canceled a run of upcoming concerts after a 17-year-old girl posted screenshots documenting what she described as a months-long interaction with him over texting and social media. The girl, who said her name is also Max and identified herself as Maxine for clarity, posted the screenshots and an account of the alleged interactions to the Say Anything subreddit. According to her account, Bemis began communicating with her in March, shortly after she gave birth to a child; she wrote that he responded enthusiastically to her photos, discussed sex toys, encouraged her to write a poem about masturbation, and referred to her as a “milf.” She also wrote that she is a trafficking victim working through that history with her therapist, and that Bemis knew of her history of “inappropriate relationships with older males” — “At which he took advantage,” she alleged. Pitchfork reported that accusations of inappropriate behavior by Bemis were first levied the week before the band’s announcement, when screenshots of his alleged flirtatious messages with two teenaged fans were shared to the subreddit. The screenshots were alleged, not verified by any newsroom, and Bemis has not publicly addressed the specific allegations.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

On Saturday, August 29, 2026, the Say Anything Instagram account announced that Bemis’s upcoming performances had been postponed: “Due to the need to prioritize his mental health and personal well-being, Max Bemis’ upcoming performances have been postponed. Max will be taking the necessary time away to focus on his health.” The fallout quickly spread to his professional partnerships. In a Wavves Patreon chat viewed by Pitchfork, Nathan Williams wrote that “on a professional level [Bemis] was awful,” adding: “I don’t want to be associated with the guy, and so it’s as simple as that. Whatever I lose doesn’t matter at that point.” A statement shared to Wavves’ official Instagram went further: “Not sure what to say but fuck Max. Fuck Say Anything. I’m sorry y’all. I spent 11 months making this record and Max spent 4 days so I dunno exactly what I’m supposed to do.” Williams claimed on Patreon that he composed the majority of “Cherry Soda” and told a fan that re-recording it “wouldn’t be hard” without Bemis, who he alleged “barely wrote anything” — though Williams noted the “issue is 10,000 records [were] already pressed.” The allegations left the status of the September 18 album release in doubt, even as it remained available for pre-order via Rough Trade.

Current Status #

As of early September 2026, Bemis had not publicly addressed the specific allegations, and no legal action or law-enforcement involvement had been reported. His acoustic shows remained postponed under the band’s August 29 statement, which asked fans for “understanding, patience, and respect for his privacy at this time.” “Cherry Soda” was still scheduled to drop on September 18, but Williams had publicly floated re-recording it without Bemis and said the pressed vinyl created a practical obstacle; Pitchfork noted Wavves’ representatives were approached for comment. No label statement addressing Bemis’s status with Say Anything itself had been reported beyond the postponement notice.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The allegations arrived at the worst possible moment commercially: days before the release of “Cherry Soda,” a joint album whose partner had publicly cursed him and declared he wanted no association with him, and on the eve of a short acoustic run now indefinitely postponed. A frontman who had spent more than two decades as the sole public identity of Say Anything suddenly found his own collaborators — and, per Williams, the record’s actual primary writer — planning a future without him. Because the claims are unproven and unanswered, his professional rehabilitation or ruin both remain open questions; what is not open is the immediate collapse of his fall 2026 plans, from the stage to the record store. The episode also places Bemis in the growing list of musicians whose careers were upended by subreddit-published screenshots rather than by litigation or reporting from traditional outlets.