Yacht slammed over 'exploitative' sex tape hoax

Yacht are in hot water after "exploitative" publicity stunt. Photo / Bec Lorrimer

Yacht have admitted their sex tape scandal was simply a publicity stunt, but rather than coming out on top, the band has angered fans.

Yesterday, Yacht members Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans released the news that a private sex tape had been leaked and they were going to start selling the tape for $5 to control its distribution.

But then the tape appeared on a popular pornography site showing the couple kissing before a shock horror ending popped up on the screen.

Jezebel reported that Evans had sent an email to Gawker Media advising they were planning to fake a sex tape leak in the lead-up to the release of their music video for the song I Wanna F*** You Til I'm Dead.

"In the days leading up to the video's release, we're going to pretend we were hacked, share and delete confessional social media posts on the subject of our privacy, then try to 'get out in front of it' and sell the sex tape, fake a server crash, etc," the email said.

Today they've issued a statement saying "this was not designed to make money or sell records, but to explore the intersection of privacy, media, and celebrity".

But the damage was done as people took to social media to slam Yacht for pretending to be victims of a sex crime just to garner publicity.

@YACHT you literally pretended to be sexual assault victims for publicity. You are everything wrong with everything

— Lindsay Erin (@Lovely_Linds) May 10, 2016

when you tell people you were exploited, they show sympathy, and it turns out you exploited them for PR, you aren't being transgressive.

— brandonstosuy (@brandonstosuy) May 10, 2016

The band addressed these issues in a statement released today.

"We never make light of victims of any form of sexual abuse. Frankly, it's disturbing to us that press outlets could make the incredibly irresponsible leap from 'celebrity sex tape', which is the cultural trope this project explicitly references, to 'revenge porn', which is unfunny, disgusting, morally repugnant, and completely unrelated," they wrote.

"Even within the fictional narrative we created, there was no violence or exploitation. It was always about agency and proactive empowerment."