Following accusations of sexual misconduct against Win Butler, the lead vocalist of the band Arcade Fire, Leslie Feist, a Canadian singer-songwriter better known by her stage as Feist, has stated she will end a tour.
The 42-year-old singer-guitarist of the Canadian indie rock band was accused of taking advantage of fandom and age differences with four people, according to a Pitchfork investigation that was published last week. Three women, who were between the ages of 18 and 23, claimed Butler sent them unwanted sexual messages between the years 2015 and 2020.
When they were 21 and Butler was 34, a fourth transgender person claimed that Butler had sexually abused them twice in 2015. Pitchfork spoke with friends and family members who recalled hearing about the claimed instances and saw screenshots of text and Instagram communications Butler exchanged with the four fictitious individuals.
It is extremely revisionist, and frankly just wrong, for anybody to say otherwise, Butler said in a statement after rejecting the allegations and claiming the relationships were consensual.
The Pitchfork piece, she said, “started a dialogue that is greater than me, it’s bigger than my songs, and it’s definitely bigger than any rock and roll tour… To continue the tour would seem that I was either justifying or ignoring the harm done by Win Butler and to terminate it would suggest that I was both the judge and the jury.
The singer, 46, claimed: “I was here to stand on my own two feet on a stage, a position I’ve grown to believe I belong and have earned as my own.
Radio stations in Canada and the US started removing the band’s tracks from playlists as a result of the claims. The next concerts in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Britain, and other countries were encouraged to be boycotted by social media commentators, who expressed amazement that the tour was even continuing. A spokeswoman for Arcade Fire would only confirm that the group will continue their tour to support their new album when contacted by a Guardian reporter at the band’s performance in Dublin this week.
Public humiliation, which “may spur action, but those acts are done from fear, and fear is not the place we find our best selves or make our greatest judgments, was condemned by Feist in her statement. Fear doesn’t foster empathy or healing or provide a safe environment for these types of discussions to take place or for the victims of abuse to receive genuine accountability and regret.
Feist acknowledged that she was “imperfect” and would “handle this issue imperfectly,”.