John Popper of Blues Traveler in Strange Online Feud

Aerial views of critic's home were tweeted from the band's account
By Gina Carey,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 31, 2017 6:07 PM CDT
Man Claims Blues Traveler Singer Is Trolling Him
John Popper of the band Blues Traveler performs during half time of an NFL football game between the Carolina Panthers and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Charlotte, NC, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014.   (AP Photo/Mike McCarn)

A bizarre social media feud has all but taken over ‘90s band Blues Traveler’s Twitter feed, where lead singer John Popper recently posted the address alongside an aerial image of an online foe’s home. According to SPIN, Popper has had a longstanding beef with Kentucky social services worker Forrest Rutherford, who initially ticked the singer off in 2014 when he sided with a BuzzFeed writer who got into a separate online scuffle with the singer. After having his Twitter account suspended and reinstated, Rutherford became reacquainted with Popper when an online bot recently paired some of his old tweets with Popper’s name, reports the Daily Beast. Rather than shrugging the tweets off, the singer began engaging with Rutherford’s account from the band’s official social media pages.

Popper took the feud to a new level Wednesday when he posted a Google Maps image of Rutherford’s residence, writing, “this is the Rutherford home in Versailles KY…I can only assume his parents are tied up in the basement2afford him rent.” Rutherford says he reported the doxing to Twitter, but nothing has been done since he provided the company with proof of his home address. And now the band's fans are jumping into the fray with online threats. “[Popper] spent a bunch of time using a photo app to Photoshop my pictures and then post them online,” Rutherford says. “Nothing got too crazy until he decided he was going to incite his fans on Facebook.” Popper’s representatives at A12 Entertainment declined to comment on Rutherford’s claims, though much of the drama can be seen played out over dozens of tweets on Blue’s Traveler’s official feed. (More privacy stories.)

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