What did Bear Rinehart say in response to brother Bo's abuse allegations? Singer denies the claims

Bear Rinehart, the frontman of the American rock band NEEDTOBREATHE, has denied abuse allegations made by his younger brother and former bandmate, Bo Rinehart.

In 2020, Bo Rinehart left NEEDTOBREATHE. He recently publicly accused Bear Rinehart of childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Bear Rinehart has responded to these claims and has called them "deeply hurtful and misleading."

Bo's original statement was shared on Instagram. It detailed years of abuse he says he endured during his youth at the hands of multiple individuals, including a camp counselor, a youth pastor, and brother Bear Rinehart.

Bo initially refrained from naming Bear directly. However, reports suggest that he later shared a now-deleted Instagram Story with Bear's photo and the caption "Sexual Abuser."

It has now led Bear Rinehart to issue a public statement via the Instagram account for his solo project, Wilder Woods.

Bear Rinehart's complete statement regarding the abuse allegations made by his brother Bo Rinehart

Bear Rinehart made an official Instagram post that featured his statement regarding the incident. He started, saying:

"I feel the need to comment on the deeply hurtful and misleading accusations that my brother Bo made the other night on social media. I love Bo deeply and I always will. Since his departure from the band over five years ago, we have done everything in our power to treat him with respect and privacy. I would never choose to disparage him, especially at a time where he is clearly in pain. But as a father and husband, I must protect my family from claims that misrepresent the truth."

Bear Rinehart noted that while he has refrained from speaking about private family matters publicly, Bo's post made it "impossible" to remain silent. Bear continued:

"Until now, I had chosen to not share this publicly — not because I'm ashamed, but because I've wanted to protect my family. I have three young boys, and I wanted them to hear about my story from me directly, when the time is right and not through social media or online speculation.

"Bo's post has now made it impossible for me to remain private about this period of our childhood any longer. I can only hope that God has a plan for this down the road. I have always respected Bo's right to speak about his own story, but I cannot allow him to misrepresent mine."

Bear Rinehart explained that both he and Bo were sexually abused as children by a teenage counselor at a Christian camp in South Carolina, when they were eight and six years old, respectively. He stated:

"Neither of us received support for these events until well into adulthood and were both left to navigate the rest of childhood and adolescence with deep pain and confusion."

"Bo's recent accusation of me conflates our shared experience of abuse with a childhood incident he misrepresents. While going through a two day intensive counseling session with Bo five years ago, I learned that he was hurt by things that happened in our early teen years as well. At that counseling session I took full responsibility for any part I played in that pain."

"We processed those moments of shared trauma in detail and left with an understanding that we were two young boys trying to cope with the unimaginable. To now label me an abuser in such a heartless way is not only deeply painful, but is also wildly misleading and feels intentionally harmful."

According to Bear Rinehart, Bo's recent accusations conflate their mutual trauma with a separate incident from their teenage years that he believes has been "misrepresented." He referred to a two-day counseling session the brothers attended five years ago.

Bear concluded his statement, mentioning:

"I truly do pray for this healing. I believe that all of us are broke and in need of a savior. My brother and I are no different."

The Rinehart brothers co-founded NEEDTOBREATHE in 1998, alongside bassist Seth Bolt. They gained relatively wider recognition after opening for Taylor Swift on her 2011 "Speak Now World Tour." They have earned 15 Dove Awards and a Grammy nomination.

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