Win Butler, the musician and founder of acclaimed Canadian band Arcade Fire, has been accused by four people of sexual harassment. This has been uncovered by the specialized music magazine Pitchfork, which specifies that three of them allege that sexual relations were inappropriate due to the dynamics of age and power that were at stake. And it is that they were between 18 and 23 years old when they began their relationships with Butler, which took place in different periods between 2016 and 2020, when the artist was between 36 and 39 years old.
The fourth person identifies as someone "gender fluid" and alleges that she was abused twice in 2015 when she was 21 and the singer was 34, according to Pitchfork.
Butler, married since 2003 to another of the group's founders, Régine Chassagne, has denied the accusations and assures that the relationships he had with these four people were "consensual". Furthermore, he explained that his marriage is "less conventional than others," so his wife knows of his relationships outside of their union. "I have never touched a woman against her will and any suggestion that I have is simply untrue," he said.
Speaking to Pitchfork, Chassagne defended her husband and said "I'm sure" that he has never abused any woman. The four people who accuse Butler of abuse claim that the singer contacted them on social networks before meeting them in person and that he later demanded sex and photos of their naked bodies.
One of the women, identified by a pseudonym in the Pitchfork article, claims that the singer sent her photos of his genitals against his will.
