Last Friday, Paste reported that Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando was accused of sending unsolicited sexually explicit videos to a fan on X. Tony Ortega conducted an investigation into the matter via his Substack newsletter, The Underground Bunker, and wrote, at length, about Dando’s conduct—which included him sending an unnamed woman (known by the pseudonym Dawn) multiple videos of himself masturbating—and provided damning evidence via DM screenshots. According to one of Dando’s representatives, the musician was hospitalized for “comprehensive help from experienced doctors and mental health professionals” last week after Ortega’s story broke. Now, Dando’s wife Antonia Teixeira is saying that his behavior was “self-sabotage” motivated by a “mental meltdown” and drug relapse.
In 2025, Dando claimed to be sober, though he admitted that he still drinks alcohol and takes over-the-counter medications. In a response to Dawn’s Threads post about Dando’s behavior, Teixeira wrote that her husband “lost his mind” after consuming edibles, mushrooms, and alcohol. As Ortega reported in a follow-up article, she is also claiming that it was a case of “mistaken identity” and that Dando had intended to send the videos to “another [Dawn] (which does not justify doing what he did).” Teixeira doubled down on this claim in an official statement: “He believed he was communicating with someone who was participating in consensual sexual messaging and was comfortable receiving explicit content.” As Ortega pointed out, fans began commenting about the incident on posts on the Lemonheads’ official Instagram page. “All lies, don’t believe everything you see on social media,” the account responded in one instance.
As it turns out: the allegations around Dando are worse than initially reported. Two more women have accused him of similar behavior, and Ortega penned a follow-up report that shares those women’s accounts. One woman in Martha’s Vineyard told Ortega that she and Dando “knew each other socially, but had never dated when Dando suddenly began sending her explicit videos and images in 2016.” Ortega wrote that Dando continued to send videos of that nature to her, “despite her pleas that he stop.” The victim closed all of her social media accounts in 2017 and cited Dando’s misconduct as the reason. Four years later, Dando found the victim’s WhatsApp account and sent more explicit content. “When she complained, she says she got a stern response from what sounded like a very different person, blaming her for the situation,” Ortega reported. The victim claimed that the videos sent to her by Dando were similar to those he sent to Dawn last week.
A Pennsylvania woman also shared her story, which occurred around 2016, where Dando messaged her unsolicited masturbation photos and videos. Ortega posted screenshots supplied by the victim, with Dando’s penis cropped out of frame. “Both women told us they believe many other women received similar images and videos from Dando, and that he’s been doing this for decades,” Ortega wrote. When his story was being reported, the Lemonheads’ Instagram account posted videos of Dando on vacation. Dando wrote in the caption, “I also would like to apologize for being way too happy and losing my mind for a couple of days, I’m really sorry if I offended you.”
In a Billboard story, Teixeira claims that the Lemonheads performed an NPR Tiny Desk Concert that will never see the light of day because Dando was “so out of his mind” when he and the band recorded it. When Dando and Teixeira returned to Brazil (where they currently reside) after the Lemonheads’ performance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last month, his behavior remained unpredictable. He was consuming large quantities of Adderall, mushrooms, and THC and began sending unsolicited sexually explicit images and videos to “numerous women on X,” according to Billboard. “Teixeira says she took Dando to the facility where he’s currently receiving care and gave him an ultimatum: If he doesn’t complete his treatment, which she thinks will take at least 30 days, she will get a divorce.”
If you or someone you know has been a victim of inappropriate sexual behavior, we recommend reaching out to the RAINN Hotline (1-800-656-4673) or Crisis Text Line (Text “HERE” to 741-741) for support.
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