The members of YACHT, an L.A. musical duo, are selling their own sex tape after they claim that someone stole it and posted it online.
To be clear, Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans, who are also in a romantic relationship, would prefer no one actually watch the video.
But, if you must, do not watch it via torrent. “We beg of you to download the video, Louis C.K.-style, directly from us,” the duo urges.
The sex tape, they claim, fell into the wrong hands “due to a series of technological missteps and one morally abject person.”
“Claire and I, who have been romantic and artistic partners since 2006, made a ‘sex tape.’ It was intended for us only.”
“We don’t feel the need to justify the reason we made it.”
“Anyone reading this who has been in a long term partnership understands that preserving the relationship is an ever-changing and challenging thing.”
“It’s especially difficult when the lines between career and romance are as merged as ours are.”
“The financial pressures that we’ve been under, which de facto extend into our extracurricular lives, created a circumstance in which we felt like we needed a bit of an escape from the day-to-day.”
“So we turned on a camera, became naked, and had sex.”
“We assumed that we were the only people who would be privy to that video. I guess we were naive. Now you have the option to be privy to that video.”
“For us, that’s a shame.”
“We feel like art is an act of generosity. The art we make for the public is for that expressed purpose.”
“And now we’re in an awkward situation where the art that we made for us and us alone is being viewed by anyone who has the inclination to hit play.”
Following a “true and humiliating blurring of the public and private,” the couple claims it initiated legal proceedings against the person who stole it.
In the meantime, they add, “our hope is that you fundamentally understand that choice and you choose not to view a private act that was inadvertently made public.”
“We hope you understand that this is not a delicious scandal. This is an exploitation.”
Evans and Bechtolt then noted that they posted it themselves, on a site where it’s available for purchase: “This video is out there now.”
“We can’t change that. But we can try to be ‘as YACHT as possible’ about it and take some kind of ownership over what has happened.”
“So we’re asking you one thing: if you feel like you 100% have to see this tape, don’t stream it on some tube site, or download a torrent.”
The site where the video can be purchased reads:
If you’re here, it’s because you want to see a sex tape made by Claire Evans and Jona Bechtolt of the band YACHT.
That’s okay – we’re not here to judge.
A video that we made privately has been released to the public. We have commenced legal proceedings against the individual who made it available without our consent.
That said, we don’t have any illusion that this tape is ever going to vanish completely from the internet. Instead, we’ve created a platform for you to purchase and download the video directly from us.
If you absolutely must see this video, we ask that you refrain from downloading it from a torrent, or streaming it on a tube site.
Controlling how this video is seen, and who profits from it, is the only form of agency we have left over this exploitative situation.
Please do the right thing. Thank you for your support.
With love and respect, Claire and Jona
While profiting from amateur porn is not new – see the Kim Kardashian sex tape – the band’s tactic reflects an understanding of the marketplace.
It’s also refreshingly honest compared to, say, certain people trying to tell us that the Farrah Abraham sex tape was “leaked” unintentionally.
Plus, these two are totes in love! Kind of makes you want to download the thing and open a nice bottle of wine with your partner, doesn’t it?
Wait, was that out loud?
