Day for Night festival cut ties with founder Omar Afra amid sexual misconduct allegations

HOUSTON – The Day for Night festival has cut ties with founder Omar Afra amid sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Afra has been removed from all involvement and ownership of the festival. The announcement was made Sunday on its Facebook page. The page said that it stands for all victims of abuse.

Day for Night posted the following statement:

"The creditors of Day For Night were shocked and saddened to hear of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Day For Night founder, Omar Afra. We stand with all victims of abuse.

"The creditors have deemed it appropriate to foreclose on the entity which owns the festival, effectively removing Omar Afra from any ownership or involvement in Day For Night from this day forward.

"Out of respect for these alleged victims, any announcement about the future of Day For Night will be made at a later date."

Afra also released a statement on his Facebook page and apologized to his family.

He stated that he has been in therapy and will be stepping down from his positions at Day for Night and Free Press for both events best interest.

Here's Afra's full statement:

"I can't begin to say how saddened, shocked, and embarrassed I am for the developments over the last several days. This has been very heavy and traumatic to my wife and children and they have had to unfortunately endure the hurt here as well as the many death threats. In the recent years I have veered away from what I knew was right and caused pain to those around me including family and friends. I am most sorry to Andrea, a woman that has stood by me for 20 years now. Because of this, I have been in therapy for over a year and have been doing some real work on myself and trying to get back on the path of focusing on the real me; a man who loves his family and wants to do right by people. In the best interest of Day for Night and Free Press and their respective stakeholders, I will be stepping down from my positions there. But I have no choice but to fight back against allegations that are patently false. It would do no justice to anyone for me to capitulate to lies and fabrications. There is so much more to know about this coordinated attempt but this is clearly not the forum to do so. If I am to move forward on a path of true integrity I need to apologize for what were bad decisions but fight falsehoods tooth and nail. Thank you to the many supporters and friends who have reached out publicly and privately. Thank you most to my wife, my mother, my sister, and other family and friends who have pledged their support during all of this."