Meg's Playlist
November 30, 2020
Welcome back to another Meg’s Playlist! Today we are going to talk about the alternative rock/indie rock band, McCafferty. There is a lot of negative news surrounding their lead singer and now only member, Nick Hartkop.
There is a lot to get into so I’m going to start from the beginning and work my way to why his newest and possibly his last “song” is really weird and scary. This is probably one of the most disturbing and intense song that you will ever listen to. Before you go any further, I will be putting a trigger warning in here. It talks about abuse, harassment, racism, sexual abuse, etc. If any of those topics trigger you, I’d advise you to stop reading now.
Let’s now discuss: McCafferty and the drama.
In January of this year, former band member Evan Graham made an Instagram post exposing Nick Hartkop for multiple serious accusations of racism, queerphobia, emotional/physical harassment, financial harassment, abuse, and more.
Him and other band members started coming out saying that he would hold money against them, he would say things like “good luck feeding your kids,” he would emotionally abuse them and their girlfriends, and he would make disgusting jokes, and even used racial slurs towards them.
I won’t go into any details with the jokes or the slurs he used because they are very gross and degrading, but if you are curious, I’m going to leave a link to the 70 page google document that was created against him by ex-members of the band, fans, ex-girlfriends, friends, and ex-wife with pages of all the accusations.
He was accused of just about everything from animal abuse to grooming underage girls to being racist. He was accused of emotionally and sexually abusing all of his former girlfriends and even abusing band members to get them to stay in the band. Former member, Wes Easterly, has even come out saying Nick has made disturbing jokes towards his girlfriend and how he would threaten her and how he would make misogynistic jokes towards her.
Even his former ex-girlfriend from high school came out on her social media to talk about how he wrote a full length song about her and her unwanted pregnancy when she was only 16 years old.
Since the Instagram posts have been made, multiple fans, ex-girlfriends of his, and old friends have come put to these rumors out that they are true and he is what they say. He has since stayed slient until now.
November 4th, 2020 Nick dropped a very odd “song” called Isn’t it beautiful. In the song, he starts off by saying “I don’t know what to tell you man, those jokes are three years old and I didn’t know anyone was uncomfortable” and he then goes on by saying “Yeah well I hope you and your kids starve man and I hope Wes dies in a car crash.” He continues the song by saying a lot of unusual things about how he has been struggling with mental illness and how he knows he did wrong, but his tone and the way he said things kind of say otherwise.
He ends the song by speaking an apology and how this is the last song of McCafferty.
What are my thoughts?
I was never a huge fan of McCafferty, but I had friends who were big fans of them until this happened in the beginning of the year. At first, I had to do all of my research on what he was accused for and what happened, and that’s when I found the 70 page google document and multiple YouTube videos on it.
I was in disgust by the things that he has been accused for and I felt for the victims and the former band members who had to suffer through the pain and abuse they all received. When he dropped this song, I felt anger for them because he was almost mocking their pain and making it a joke. The way he spoke about all of it seemed off. He didn’t act like he was truly sorry. I didn’t like the song and I know people will listen to it so if you do, please note that it is not proven that his rights for his music is off and he might still be making money off of the band. Listen at your own risk because as stated before, it’s disturbing.
Thanks for joining me on this wild ride and I hope to jam to some music on the next Meg’s Playlist.
Callum • Mar 18, 2024 at 5:16 pm
I won’t, personally, stop listening to McCafferty because like a few other comments said, separate the art from the artist-songs like Trees and Bottom I genuinely love because I relate to them and they hit really hard-I enjoy the music. I also want to mention how with other artists, allegations get their actually good music abandoned-its ok to continue listening. As long as your not supporting the person who committed the terrible crimes, your really just listening to music that you enjoy.
Sage • Mar 2, 2024 at 2:31 pm
I understand what he did was wrong, but in this situation I’m gonna have to separate the art from the artist because he has good songs (in a sense of being able to relate to some of them), and I understand he is not a good person in my opinion.
ziggy • Jan 29, 2024 at 7:02 am
i personally separated the art from the artist but i DO NOT support what Nick has done, there is no excuse even with his BPD and BP, but i will continue to listen to the music.
stan • Nov 25, 2023 at 5:55 pm
i know all the bad things he has done but im still not gonna stop listening, he has been producing music ever since then, his new song “life of an artist” really tells a story all nick wants to do is be a better person and we shouldn’t hold him back on that what he did was wrong but cmon it was high-school mostly everyone is a bad person at that time especially with BPD and BP and people change so i don’t care about his past mistakes because his music gets me through tough times and to make real music about struggle you have to struggle, but that’s just my opinion
Idk • Aug 12, 2023 at 10:27 am
Dang, I knew he did something but I didn’t know how bad it was 🙁
Kaito • Aug 10, 2023 at 9:33 am
I genuinely will continue to listen to his music because what he did was bad and very problematic but he can change and I prefer to separate their personal life from their music. I hope he finds the rehabilitation he needs although.
Am • Mar 30, 2023 at 8:19 pm
Why didn’t I know this sooner..
em • Mar 18, 2023 at 4:15 pm
i love their music but i refuse to listen to it because of this.
Its_Arabellaaa • Nov 14, 2022 at 9:33 am
I used to genuinely like McCafferty and support Nick Hopkins but he sucks. God why do so many talented ppl have to be so problematic.
Chris • Nov 6, 2022 at 5:53 am
There’s a song by the band Saint Motel called ‘Dear Dictator.’
One of the lyrics of the songs say “It’s not to late to say sorry, but it’s too late to truly mean it”
I felt that a lot while reading this.
The top comment is nice, but at the same time this has been happening for years- can he truly get better?
Sammy • Oct 11, 2022 at 1:19 pm
“Isn’t it beautiful” is an apology, if you read the bio on the Mccafferty Website and the screenplay by Nick you will see it in a different light.
Cancelled: the screenplay, is about a past abuser named autumn all he wants is to be a better person. He suffers from the same mental issues as Nick(BPD and BP)
I listened to this song for the first time today, after I had read everything. Nick want’s to be a better person.
This may come from someone who has been a fan of mccafferty for a couple years, and their music has gotten me through alot of rough shit.
Judge a person for their present self not their past.
His Past is terrible, I can say that, but he’s changed and is currently changing, so why don’t we look at that?
StarStruck • Oct 3, 2022 at 4:39 pm
I know this was in late 2020, but McCafferty has released about 11 new songs over the last 2 years, though they have much less listens. I was thinking that they had different singers, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Jasper • Apr 23, 2022 at 5:57 pm
It’s sad because McCafferty is one of my favorite bands. I will continue to listen to their music but I do not support ANYTHING Nick has done I really hope he can be a better person in the future even though he will never be forgiven fully.
Aidan • May 29, 2022 at 12:39 am
By listening to his music you are giving him money and supporting what he has done and will do. With someone who’s done so much wrong, why would you want to continue to listen to their shit? Support them? Like bruh.
Lark • Sep 14, 2022 at 9:54 am
You do know that you can download music and he won’t get money. Plus there’s so many musicians that have done disgusting shit and people still listen. So in reality there is no winning other then them actually trying to get him in prisoned for the abuse ad sexual assault.
MikeyC • Jun 5, 2021 at 7:49 pm
This was a good read. I have been a fan of the band’s music for a few years now since the first time I heard them. Just from the lyrics, I felt a strong emotional connection to the writer. As someone who’s done terrible things in the past, struggled with addiction, and lives with mental illness, I could tell this was a hurt person. The more I read about Nick’s personal life, the more disappointed I feel. I guess I wanted to believe that this person who wrote songs I connected with so deeply was a good person at the end of the day. I still love the music but I hope he figures his shit out. Thank.you for the good read, it was a well written article.
Alex • Jun 5, 2021 at 2:48 am
Its rlly sad knowing that ur fav band for like around a few years has now been canceled 🙁
Jackzdumb • May 27, 2021 at 9:16 am
it’s so sad that a man with such a beautiful voice has said so many disgusting things.
Linda • Nov 30, 2020 at 10:24 am
Very good read! well written and really interesting!