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Prosecutors in Germany have dropped an investigation into Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann, following allegations of sexual misconduct.
The investigation was opened in June after several women claimed they were drugged and recruited to engage in sexual activity.
The selected women are said to have been given access to a so-called “Row Zero” – a restricted area directly in front of the stage.
Lindemann always denied the allegations and his legal team dismissed the claims as “without exception untrue”.
Berlin’s prosecution office shared a statement on Tuesday (29 August) that read: “The evaluation of the available evidence — above all the press reports that refer to anonymous whistleblowers, as well as the additional questioning of witnesses — has not produced any indications that the accused has carried out sexual acts on women against their will, administered disabling substances or exploited a power imbalance towards underage sexual partners in order to persuade them to have sex.”
“The rapid termination of investigative proceedings by the Berlin state prosecutor’s office shows there is insufficient evidence”
Lawyers for Lindemann said: “The rapid termination of investigative proceedings by the Berlin state prosecutor’s office shows that there is insufficient evidence that our client allegedly committed sexual offences.”
The wave of complaints about Lindemann came after a woman from Northern Ireland went public with her belief that she had been drugged by the frontman at an afterparty in Vilnius, Lithuania on 22 May. A number of other women then made further allegations against the German singer.
The claims were met with calls to axe Rammstein’s European stadium tour, with close to 100,000 people signing a petition demanding the cancellation of three sold-out concerts at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on 15-16 and 18 July. Meanwhile, hundreds of protestors assembled outside various concerts during the tour.
Promoters including Greenhouse Talent and Gadget abc subsequently addressed concerns about Rammstein tour dates, confirming there would be no “Row Zero” at their shows, while aftershow parties in Berlin and Munich were cancelled.
At the time, the band issued a statement saying they took the allegations “extremely seriously. We say to our fans: It’s important to us that you feel comfortable and safe at our shows – in front and behind the stage.”
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Canadian singer-songwriter Feist has pulled out of her support slot on Arcade Fire’s world tour, following allegations of sexual misconduct against the band’s frontman, Win Butler.
In an investigation published last week by music publication Pitchfork, four people accused Butler of behaving inappropriately. The allegations, which Butler denies, include forceful touching and unwanted, sexual text messages.
The claims emerged on Saturday (27 August) shortly before the first date of the band’s world tour kicked off in Dublin.
Feist, who played the first two dates of the ‘We’ outing, says she has now decided to “go home”.
“The best way to take care of my band and crew and my family is to distance myself from this tour”
“The best way to take care of my band and crew and my family is to distance myself from this tour [but] not this conversation,” she wrote in a lengthy statement posted to her social media accounts.
The three women, and one gender-fluid person, accused the singer of taking advantage of his fame and their fandom during incidents that occurred between 2015 and 2020, when Butler was aged between 34 and 39.
In two statements to Pitchfork, Butler denied all allegations, saying that sexual interactions he had with the four people were consensual, but apologised “to anyone who I have hurt with my behaviour”.
The band’s world tour is set to continue tonight (2 September) at Utilita Arena in Birmingham, UK. A replacement for Feist has not been announced.
Read Feist’s full statement below.
— Feist (@FeistMusic) September 1, 2022
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Former members of the touring crew for rock band the Killers have emerged largely unscathed from a sexual misconduct claim after an internal review was “unable to find any corroboration” of the allegations.
The investigation into sexual misconduct was launched after sound engineer Chez Cherrie shared allegations that during a concert at the Rave in Milwaukee in 2009, a front-of-house engineer told the crew that there was “a girl set up in dressing room A” and that crew members could put their name on a list to be called “when it’s [their]” turn”.
She also claimed that crew members made crude remarks about their experiences with the girl, and said that venue security expressed concern about the girl being left naked and unconscious in the dressing room.
On 29 July, the Killers announced that they were opening an internal investigation into Cherrie’s sexual misconduct claims.
Today, the band’s lawyers Reynolds & Associates released a summary from the investigation, which ultimately concluded that they were “unable to find any corroboration whatsoever of a sexual assault at the Milwaukee venue”.
Cherrie said she stood by her experiences and said that the “hazing” described in the band’s report reflected a “larger issue” in the music industry
Cherrie responded to the statement with her own, saying she has “conflicting feelings” about the findings. “First, I am grateful that they, as an organization, have taken my experience seriously and were moved to internally investigate and potentially lead the industry in a restorative manner so this never happens again,” she wrote.
Cherrie disagreed with some “generalised statements” in the report but she was “beyond relieved” that the report had traced the girl at the centre of the allegation.
She also said she stood by her experiences and said that the “hazing” described in the band’s report reflected a “larger issue” in the music industry, wherein such behaviour was “normal, expected, accepted”. She said she hoped that the industry could “develop a framework of reporting mistreatment and harassment that protects workers and fans and demands accountability of the people in power”.
The statement from Reynolds & Associates detailed the Killers’ “expressed regret that the temporary crew member was made to feel unsafe and bullied during her brief time with the band”.
It also claims the band has now directed their team to establish a new system “wherein the entire touring party are furnished with an off-site independent HR contact to call to report concerns of any nature, anonymously if they wish”.
The Killers’ Day & Age world tour was the 50th highest-grossing of 2009, earning $18.3 million, according to Pollstar.
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