You may have seen the name Martin Shkreli all around the internet today. He’s the CEO for Turing Pharmaceuticals, a company that recently acquired the rights to the drug Daraprim, which is used to treat AIDS and cancer patients. Right now he’s the most hated man in America.
Shkreli made national headlines after he announced that he was raising the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill, which is a 5,000% increase. This caused an outcry.
Apparently Shkreli was an investor in Collect Records, the label run by former Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly. Today the label announced that they’ve severed ties with the CEO.
Never in a million years did any of us expect to wake up to the news of the scandal that he is now involved in. It blindsided and upset us on every level. As such, we know it is impossible for us to continue having any ties with him. For my part, I’ve always strived to make Collect a place that was so liberal, encouraging, and artist-friendly that no one would ever walk away from us willingly, though to do so at any time would be very easy. To that end, I hope that our bands continue to believe in our guidance and passion. Any of them that have had an incurable crisis of confidence will be allowed to leave with nothing but the kind of encouragement that we’ve built our label on.
Collect Records is home to Rickly’s band No Devotion, Nothing, Creepoid, and Sick Feeling.