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Bear Rinehart, lead singer of Needtobreathe, has spoken up on social media after his brother, Bo Rinehart, made public accusations against Bear, including multiple forms of abuse.
The Rinehart brothers were in the Christian rock-folk band together from its inception in 2000 until Bo left in 2020.
While Bo has alluded to some abuse in his past that he wanted to heal from, he recently posted serious accusations against his brother.
"I am an alcoholic, I am a sinner, but I am a believer," said Bo in the statement posted to Instagram on June 12.
"I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I've been sexually abused by a camp counsellor. I've been sexually, emotionally, and physically abused by my brother. And I've been abused by my youth pastor."
Addressing the Accusations
Over the weekend, Bear addressed the accusations on his solo project's Instagram, Wilder Woods, on June 14.
"I feel the need to comment on the deeply hurtful and misleading accusations that my brother Bo made the other night," says Bear. "I love Bo deeply and I always will. But as a father and husband, I must protect my family from claims that misrepresent the truth."
Bear shared that he hadn't ever been public about his part of the story before to protect his family, not because he was ashamed.
"Bo's post has made it impossible for me to remain private about this period of our childhood any longer. I can only hope God has a plan for this down the road."
The 44-year-old goes on to explain some of the abuse both he and his brothers experienced as young boys.
"My brother and I were both sexually abused at the age of 8 and 6 by a teenage counsellor at the Christian camp where we grew up. 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."
Bear shared that after he became an adult, he was able to work through details of the events with trusted people.
"I truly believe I have found freedom from it. While going through a two day intensive counselling session with Bo five years ago, I learned that he was hurt by things that happened in our early teen years as well."
Bear says he took full responsibility for that time during their counselling session.
"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 also wildly misleading and feels intentionally harmful."
Both share hopes for God's plan
Bear says he is hopeful that one day he and his brother Bo can reconcile.
"Please pray for our family and all we can ask is that you respect our privacy during this time."
Bo had also said that he believes God can bring something from his experiences.
"I believe that God has bigger plans for me and part of those plans are telling my story because it's so hard for anyone to tell stories like this."
Bo also encouraged other survivors of abuse to continue working toward healing.
The post continues on with Bo stating that he believes in "a God who always finds a way."
Neither brother has released any other statements since the original posts.