Win Butler accused of sexual misconduct on multiple accounts: report

@arcadefire/Instagram (via: @bbc6music/Instagram)

Win Butler, the lead singer of the Montreal-based rock band Arcade Fire, has released a statement in response to reports that include multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Accusations against the 42-year-old singer began circulating after Pitchfork, a New York-based music news publication, published a lengthy story over the weekend containing allegations of sexual interactions with three women and one person who identifies as gender fluid.

Accusers told Pitchfork that alleged sexual misconduct interactions were inappropriate based on age gaps, unwelcomed advances, and power dynamics, stemming from “various instances” between 2015 and 2020.

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According to Pitchfork, Butler acknowledged he had extramarital relationships outside his marriage to bandmate Regine Chassagne but says they were all “between consenting adults,” and that he “never touched a woman against her will.”

Butler says he was struggling with mental health issues and alcohol dependencies when the alleged incidents took place.

Pitchfork says it “viewed screenshots of text and Instagram messages “related to Butler’s accusations and that it “interviewed friends and family members who said they recalled being told about the alleged incidents.”

In a statement in Pitchfork’s article, Butler says he loves his wife “with all of my heart.” He says they’ve been together for 20 years and that she is his “partner in music and in life, my soulmate, and I am lucky and grateful to have her by my side.”

“But at times, it has been difficult to balance being the father, husband, and bandmate that I want to be,” he continued. “Today I want to clear the air about my life, poor judgment, and mistakes I have made. I have had consensual relationships outside of my marriage. There is no easy way to say this, and the hardest thing I have ever done is having to share this with my son. The majority of these relationships were short-lived, and my wife is aware – our marriage has, in the past, been more unconventional than some.”

In the same statement, Butler says “any implication” that he touched a woman against her will is “simply false” and that he “vehemently deny any suggestion that I forced myself on a woman or demanded sexual favors. That simply, and unequivocally, never happened.”

Arcade Fire is regarded as one of the most successful Canadian bands to ever rise out of the indie rock scene. The Grammy Award-winning band is embarking on a world tour at the beginning of September to promote their sixth album, We.

In March, Win’s brother Will (and founding band member) announced he had left the group after more than 20 years with the band.

The only reasons he cited for leaving the group were that both he and the band have changed “over the last almost 20 years” and that it was “time for new things.”