Who is Ben Barnett? Kind of Like Spitting singer denies February’s Rila Ogawa grooming allegations

Rila Ogawa, vocalist and guitarist of the band February, has accused Ben Barnett of grooming and manipulation between April 2024 and March 2025, according to her recent Instagram Stories. Barnett is a singer and songwriter best known as the frontman of the band Kind of Like Spitting.

Responding to the allegations, he wrote on his latest Instagram Story:

"Heartbreaking and really brutal. Will address in full shortly. I'm aware of the doc, and the insinuation that I had alterior motives is just not true. Actually pretty disgusting. I never did anything but support and help them. Full stop."

In a follow-up post, Barnett apologized to Ogawa "right or wrong," and "be accountable for my mistakes."

"I will speak my truth and show my receipts as well, not right now... I hope knowing I will no longer be making or performing art brings some peace to the people who feel let down," he added.

Meanwhile, Rila Ogawa shared a Google Docs link containing screenshots, screen recordings, and photos of her alleged interactions with Ben Barnett, adding, she was sharing her story “in hopes that no other impressionable fans fall victim to Ben’s manipulation in the way I did.”

“I will no longer be silent. This has taken a toll on me mentally for months. I am very scared to share my story, but I can’t be quiet any longer,” Ogawa wrote on her @x.rila.x account.

Ogawa also shared alleged text exchanges between the two, documenting Ben Barnett’s seemingly inappropriate s*xual advances. In one such alleged DM, Ben purportedly wrote after their merch exchange:

“You are the definition of beauty. You can’t GOOGLE girls as beautiful as you. Embrace that sh*t. You have so much power. There’s a part of me that would crawl to Vegas if I knew you were feeling it, lol. I mean, obviously I’m kidding, but still.”

The alleged message continued,

“You’re so beautiful, it makes me sentimental. I don’t know what higher compliment I could give you, love.”

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All you need to know about Ben Barnett

Ben Barnett founded the indie rock and emo band Kind of Like Spitting in Portland, Oregon, in 1996. Its other members include Brian Grant, Dante Johnson, and Anthony Sanders.

For a decade, the band toured across the USA, led by Barnett. It also released nearly a dozen albums, including You Secretly Want Me Dead in April 2000 and It’s Always Nice to See You in 2015. Kind of Like Spitting split in 2006, citing personal reasons, before reuniting in 2014. Some of its notable songs include Passionate, Birds of a Feather, Blue Period, and Dodge Dart.

Ben Barnett taught music at Seattle’s Paul Green School of Rock in 2007 and became its director in 2010, before founding another band called Blunt Mechanic. That same year, Blunt Mechanic released its debut album, World Record.

Previously, Ben was involved with another Portland-based indie rock band named The Thermals between 2003 and 2004. Recently, he released the Kind of Like Spitting EP titled Soon in November 2024.

According to his September 2010 interview with Oklahoma Gazette, he was raised by an abusive father, and music acted as a kind of therapy.

“My music was so f**king bummed, self-aggrandizing, and I’m just very fortunate that I’ve lived long enough to at least begin to say different things,” Barnett told the publication at the time.

Ben Barnett also recalled how losing his friend to a heroin overdose in 2000 messed him up, until he found his gig at the School of Rock in Seattle.

Speaking to the Yellow Scene Magazine in March 2015, Ben shared he is bipolar, and Kind of Like Splitting broke up in 2006 because his fiancé left him. He also took credit for discovering indie bands Globes and Special Explosion at the School of Rock.

Ben Barnett also mentioned being part of a musical and a funk-pop recording project called Error of Light.

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Exploring more about Rila Ogawa’s allegations against Ben Barnett

Earlier this week, Rila Ogawa took to Instagram to call out Ben Barnett for alleged grooming. She claimed that she connected with Barnett over Instagram DM and told him she was a fan.

Ben reportedly responded with a demo of a new song for Kind of Like Spitting, and they continued to text each other. According to Oagawa, initially their conversation was restricted to music, and Barnett reportedly offered to record the February band’s upcoming album at his home studio in Portland. While Ben was in his 50s, Rila was “a third of his age,” aka 19.

However, soon, the messages allegedly turned s*xual and inappropriate. As per the screenshots posted by Ogawa, Barnett replied to her selfies with comments like, “You know you’re thirst posting, right?” She claimed to dismiss the messages despite being uncomfortable.

But Ben Barnett seemingly kept offering to “proof” her alleged thirst traps and even suggested she was a “cam girl,” and expressed interest in signing up for her “VIP room.” Later, when February visited Portland to record music at Barnett’s home studio, things reportedly escalated with Ben verbally abusing the members during recording sessions.

According to Rila Ogawa, she and her bandmates made a pact not to let each other be alone with Barnett, to avoid Ben Barnett’s s*xual advances. They later left after paying him, without much recording.

Ogawa stood her ground and claimed she now feels “naïve” and “stupid,” and “blames” herself for what happened. However, she refuses to stay silent any longer. She also claimed that Barnett himself allegedly told her that one of his ex-students accused him of grooming, but he was “not a predator or a groomer.”

“He is a narcissist, a predator, and a groomer. The fact that I'm not the first person he's done this to scares me. I wouldn't want any person to go through what I did. For months, I felt as though I should shield him, protect his image,” Rila wrote on Instagram.

She added, “I am ashamed that this happened to me, but I cannot protect him any longer. This has made a strong impact on my life as a person and as an artist. I am scared to see him at any future shows I have, I am scared to meet people connected to him, I am absolutely terrified posting this.”

Ogawa concluded by saying she was scared to be in the same festival as her “groomer,” referring to the Best Friends Fest, slated to happen later this year, where both February and Kind of Like Splitting are scheduled to perform.

However, she hoped that with her speaking up, it would help others share their stories as well and shield people from falling prey to Barnett’s alleged actions.

Meanwhile, Ben came forward on Instagram and denied the accusations. He said he wants to do "what's right," as he "always has." He said he didn't have a "rebuttal" at hand at the moment.

"All shows are cancelled, and the new record is the last record. Probably that I will ever make. There has been overwhelming hatred toward me and it seems like what needs to be done to own my life and my experience as well as honor my accuser, is to work toward whatever restorative justice looks like," he wrote.

He wrapped up by issuing an apology to Rila, adding he was making "no excuses" and realizes that "sh*ts a horrible look."

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While February was recently announced in the lineup of 2026 Coachella, Kind of Like Spitting is set to release its new EP, I DO IT FOR MY CITY, on October 3.