Win Butler accused of sexual misconduct

msn.com:

Arcade Fire's Win Butler has been accused of sexual misconduct by four people. The 42-year-old singer is said to have behaved inappropriately between 2015 to 2020 when he was aged 34 to 39 and his alleged victims were between the ages of 18 and 23, but he has insisted the encounters between them were consensual.

A gender-fluid individual who uses they/them pronouns told Pitchfork Butler had sexually assaulted them twice in 2015 when they were 21 years old, while three women told the outlet their encounters with the 'Rebellion (Lies)' hitmaker involved unwanted touching, kissing and photos of genitalia, and were “inappropriate given the gaps in age, power dynamics, and context in which they occurred. ” Butler has issued a lengthy statement in which he told how he was going through a period of depression and drinking heavily at the time, but maintained the "relationships" were consensual and his wife, bandmate Regine Chassagne, is aware of what happened.

He said in a statement: “I love Régine with all of my heart. We have been together for twenty years, she is my 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. 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.