Arcade Fire’s Win Butler faces new sexual misconduct allegations – Rolling Stone

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A fifth person has made misconduct allegations against Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, saying he was “emotionally abusive, manipulative and toxic” during their three-year relationship, reports Pitchfork.

The new allegations, made by a woman using the pseudonym Sabina, come several months after four people accused Butler of sexual misconduct between 2016 and 2020. Three of his accusers said Butler used his fame to pressure them into sexual encounters; a fourth said Butler sexually assaulted them twice, including once by putting his hand down their pants without their consent.

Butler (who has been married to Arcade Fire teammate Régine Chassagne since 2003) admitted to extramarital affairs but said all sexual encounters were “consensual”.

Sabina, for her part, described her relationship as “abusive” and rooted in a clear power imbalance: she was 22 when she met Butler, and he was 35; he was a world famous musician, and she had just left a strict religious group and moved to Montreal, where she was attending university and working in a café.

“It was an ongoing abusive relationship,” she said. “Emotionally abusive, manipulative, toxic and using his power dynamics to exploit my body at times that suited him. He met me when I was so vulnerable.

A representative for Butler was not immediately available to respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.

Sabina claimed to have met Butler in 2015 at the cafe where she worked, and the two soon started talking and texting. Sabina was dating at the time and said Butler sometimes asked her if she and her boyfriend had ever broken up. Eventually, Sabina and Butler kissed over drinks one night, an experience she described as “shocking” in a diary entry at the time. Still, she said she felt attracted to Butler and their relationship progressed, eventually becoming sexual.

Echoing some of the allegations from her previous accusers, Sabina said Butler frequently turned their text conversations to sex and asked for explicit photos. In other journal entries from the time, she wrote about her attraction to Butler, but also expressed concern that she was “just a body” to him. Editor’s Choice

Sabina acknowledged that, during their sexual encounter, she never said “no” to Butler, nor did she try to stop him. Because of that, she said Butler probably believed the sex they were having was consensual. However, she explained why she thought it was actually more complicated than that and clouded by the power imbalance in their relationship.

“Generally, it was an abusive dynamic,” she said. “It was really aggressive and I felt like I had to do what he said. I wasn’t really comfortable with some of the things he was asking me to do, but I do them when And that’s ultimately dehumanizing.

Additionally, Sabina said she was interested in pursuing a deeper relationship with Butler, but he only seemed interested in sex, whether it was meeting in person or asking her to send pictures or “indulge.” to sexts when he wanted it to happen”. When Sabina didn’t respond to his demands, she said, “He would hurt you so much about that. You are cut off from all contact if you do not accept sexual favors.

Sabina also described — and provided evidence — Butler’s frequent text messages and requests for sex, as well as nude photographs of himself he sent unsolicited. In one instance, in late August 2017 (shortly after Butler canceled a planned DJ set at an event Sabina helped organize), Sabina sent Butler a lengthy message about some of the challenges she was facing in her life and how her fixation on sex made her feel like she wasn’t “even a person”.

Butler reportedly replied, “Thanks for the note,” then spent the night telling Sabina he wanted to see her. At one point he sent two photos, one of which allegedly shows him masturbating. Related

“I didn’t ask for it at all,” Sabina said of the photographs. “It was just really, really disrespectful and scary and rude… It felt like that specific encounter crossed a line that he shouldn’t have crossed, and it was shocking. I really feel like he has more to apologize for. He never took responsibility for that. (Butler reportedly sent a text apologizing for the photographs — and also continued to ask Sabina if he could see her.)

Sabina and Butler continued to see each other on and off for about a year, with their relationship finally ending in June 2018. Sabina, however, said she regretted not breaking it off after Butler sent those photographs. Tendency

“If you’re in an emotionally abusive relationship, it makes you feel better to tell yourself that it was all for something, that their outbursts were mistakes and that you meant something to the abuser, that you still have value to them,” she said. “But the only value I ever had for him was performing sex acts whenever he wanted.”

Following the initial allegations against Butler, Arcade Fire continued touring in support of their latest album, We (planned openers Feist and Beck, however, both dropped out of the trip). We also just got nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Album.

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