click ‘Allow and continue’<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/gu-island><\/figure>\n
\u201cThis has been incredibly difficult for me and I can only imagine how much more difficult it’s been for the people who came forward. More than anything I wish healing to those involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that the Pitchfork article \u201cignited a conversation that is bigger than me, it’s bigger than my songs and it’s certainly bigger than any rock and roll tour \u2026 To stay on tour would symbolize I was either defending or ignoring the harm caused by Win Butler and to leave would imply I was the judge and jury.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 46-year-old singer said she \u201cwas never here to stand for or with Arcade Fire \u2013 I was here to stand on my own two feet on a stage, a place I’ve grown to feel I belong and I’ve earned as my own.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn’t a singular path to heal when you’ve endured any version of the above, nor a singular path to rehabilitate the perpetrators,\u201d she said. \u201cIt can be a lonely road to make sense of ill treatment. I can’t solve that by quitting, and I can’t solve it by staying. But I can’t continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the following, radio stations in Canada and the US started pulling the band’s songs from playlists. Commentators on social media urged fans to boycott forthcoming concerts in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and elsewhere, with many surprised the tour was going ahead at all. Asked for comment by a Guardian reporter at the band’s concert in Dublin this week, a publicist for Arcade Fire said only that the band would continue its tour to promote their new album, We.<\/p>\n
In her statement, Feist distanced herself from public shaming, which \u201cmight cause action, but those actions are made from fear, and fear is not the place we find our best selves or make our best decisions. Fear doesn’t precipitate safe empathy nor healing nor open a space for these kinds of conversations to evolve, or for real accountability and remorse to be offered to the people who were harmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement to Pitchfork, Butler, who is married to bandmate R\u00e9gine Chassagne, acknowledged having had sexual interactions with each of the four people, but said they were not initiated by him and were consensual.<\/p>\n
In a further statement, he apologised \u201cto anyone who I have hurt with my behavior\u201d, adding: \u201cI am continuing to learn from my mistakes and working hard to become a better person, someone my son can be proud of […] I’m sorry I wasn’t more aware and tuned in to the effect I have on people \u2013 I fucked up, and while not an excuse, I will continue to look forward and heal what can be healed, and learn from past experiences. \u201d<\/p>\n
Noting that she’s \u201cimperfect\u201d and will \u201cnavigate this decision imperfectly\u201d, Feist concluded that \u201cthe best way to take care of my band and crew and my family is to distance myself from this tour, not this conversation. The last two nights on stage, my songs made this decision for me. Hearing them through this lens was incongruous with what I’ve worked to clarify for myself through my whole career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve always written songs to name my own subtle difficulties, aspire to my best self and claim responsibility when I need to. And I’m claiming my responsibility now and going home.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n