Win Butler, the frontman for Grammy-winning rock band Arcade Fireplace, has been accused of sexual misconduct by 4 folks.
Three of the accusers are girls who say they had been “devoted” followers of the band, and declare that the misconduct occurred between 2016 and 2020 after they had been between the ages of 18 and 23 and Butler was between 36 and 39. A fourth accuser, who identifies as “gender-fluid,” alleges that Butler sexually assaulted them twice in 2015, after they had been 21 and he was 34, based on a report in Pitchfork.
Butler has been married to fellow Arcade Fireplace member Régine Chassagne since 2003.
Butler denied the sexual misconduct allegations, saying that he had had “consensual relationships outdoors of my marriage,” based on statements he supplied to Pitchfork.
The accusers, who had been recognized by pseudonyms within the article, stated that Butler initially contacted them by means of social media earlier than assembly them in particular person, and later made calls for for nude photographs and intercourse. One of many girls advised Pitchfork that “Butler despatched her photographs of his genitals towards her needs.”
One other girl described that after first connecting with Butler on Instagram after an Arcade Fireplace live performance in Montreal, the 2 engaged in “sexts and video calls” earlier than having intercourse. Nevertheless, following a sexual encounter in her Vancouver bed room earlier than a live performance in October 2017, this particular person advised Pitchfork that she tried suicide. “I felt extremely low,” she stated. “The toll of getting to maintain all the pieces secret, continuously pushing my wants apart to be able to appease him, lack of boundaries, and the guilt of being the opposite girl was getting too laborious to disregard.”
Butler acknowledged that he was conscious of her suicide try however stated she advised him “it was unrelated to me, she was affected by psychological sickness,” based on the report. “It was completely associated to him,” she responded.
The gender-fluid particular person, a 21-year-old artwork scholar on the time, stated that they met Butler in January 2015 when the band was enjoying in Montreal. The 2 exchanged contact info and met in February, the place they allege Butler touched them inappropriately with out their consent. Two days later he confirmed up at their condo, the place “he pinned me up towards the wall and was aggressively grabbing my physique and sticking his tongue down my throat,” they stated. “It was an try and be attractive, and it was so not OK within the context.”
Arcade Fireplace performs at Coachella in 2022.
(Lance Gerber / Courtesy of Coachella)
In his assertion, Butler referred to as his marriage at instances “unconventional,” and stated that the relationships with the 4 accusers had been “short-lived,” including that “each single certainly one of these interactions has been mutual and all the time between consenting adults.”
“I’ve by no means touched a lady towards her will, and any implication that I’ve is solely false. I vehemently deny any suggestion that I compelled myself on a lady or demanded sexual favors. That merely, and unequivocally, by no means occurred,” he stated.
Butler despatched a second assertion to Pitchfork by which he acknowledged coping with melancholy and consuming.
“I’ve lengthy struggled with psychological well being points and the ghosts of childhood abuse. In my 30s, I began consuming as I handled the heaviest melancholy of my life after our household skilled a miscarriage. None of that is supposed to excuse my habits, however I do wish to give some context and share what was occurring in my life round this time.”
Chassagne, for her half, is standing by her husband.
Butler, she stated in a press release to Pitchfork, is “my soulmate, my songwriting associate, my husband, the daddy of my stunning boy. He has been my associate in life and in music for 20 years.” She went on to say that “I do know what’s in his coronary heart, and I do know he has by no means, and would by no means, contact a lady with out her consent and I’m sure he by no means did. He has misplaced his means and he has discovered his means again. I really like him and love the life now we have created collectively.”
Laura Eldeiry, the band’s publicist, declined to remark past the statements Butler and Chassagne gave to Pitchfork.
Arcade Fireplace, now a five-piece band fronted by the husband-and-wife duo, earned early approval for its earnest and anthemic rock. After vaulting from the bustling Montreal indie scene within the mid-2000s, the band grew to become essential favorites and one of many greatest rock acts of the final 20 years. They gained the Grammy for album of the 12 months in 2011 for his or her third album, “The Suburbs,” and headlined the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Competition in 2014. The group returned to Coachella this 12 months with a shock early-day set selling its newest album, “We.”
As of Saturday, the band remains to be scheduled to start a European area tour on Tuesday, with two nights on the Kia Discussion board in Inglewood in November.
Employees author August Brown contributed to this report