Rammstein Drummer Comments on Lindemann Allegations: “Till Has Distanced Himself from Us”
The ongoing situation surrounding Rammstein and their frontman Till Lindemann regarding allegations of sexual misconduct with female fans before, during, and after shows is not looking good. After numerous women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, including being drugged and potentially raped, companies are dropping support of the band and their vocalist and now German law enforcement is getting involved.
Earlier today, Rammstein drummer Christoph Schneider issued a statement on his personal Instagram account that not only tries to distance himself and the band from Lindemann’s parties, but also seeks to ensure people know their after parties were above the board.
Schneider’s comments were posted in German, obviously, so the following is a translated version:
Dear people,
I would like to share my personal emotions and thoughts with you.
The accusations of the last few weeks have deeply shaken us as a band and me as a person. You fans certainly too. I feel as if in shock by the things that have been shared on social media and in the press and in print about our singer. This is an ebb and flow of emotions for us band members and crew.
No, I don’t think anything criminally relevant (such as the use of knockout drops) happened. No. I don’t think anything illegal was going on, I’ve never seen anything like it, nor heard anything like it from any of our crew of 100 people. All I heard from Till’s parties were adults celebrating together. And yet things seem to have happened that, although legally ok, I personally don’t think are ok. Certain structures have grown that went beyond the limits and values of the other band members. It is also important to us that Till’s parties are not confused with our official after-show parties.
Till has distanced himself from us in recent years and created his own bubble.
With their own people, their own parties, their own projects. That made me sad, definitely. I believe Till when he tells us that he always wanted and still wants to give his private guests a good time. How exactly these guests had imagined this, however, seems to differ in some cases from his own ideas. The wishes and expectations of the women who have now come forward were probably not fulfilled. According to their statements, they felt uncomfortable, on the edge of a situation that they could no longer control.
I feel sorry for her and I feel compassion. However, it is important for me to emphasize something objective: every guest in the backstage area is free to leave (they may have to wait a moment for security to lead them safely to the exit). All bottles are sealed and in full view of the guests freshly opened or they open them themselves.
Water and snacks are available just like Security personnel and medical care available at any time. We want all of our guests to feel comfortable and safe with us!
This is our standard. So I’m sorry to hear that some didn’t feel that way.
We have the greatest fans in the world and they all deserve to be treated with respect! I’m sorry for anyone who wasn’t treated kindly or felt unsafe backstage with us.
Also for Shelby, she deserved a great concert and a wonderful evening.
But I don’t want this whole public dispute about our band to feed the extremes: neither the beast social media, which has not yet been tamed by our society, nor paternalistic tendencies to deny women in their mid-20s the ability to make self-determined decisions about their sexuality and also by no means victim blaming, so that people continue to date to talk about it if something happened to them. I wish for a calm, level-headed reflection and processing, also in our band.
And all together, six of us. We stand together.
Your Christoph Schneider.
While it’s great that he offers apologies to anyone involved in the allegations, it’s kinda shitty to say “well they could have left at any time.” Sure, that’s the case, but there’s an insane power imbalance that exists between international rock stars and their fans, so it’s a little more complicated than that.
All of this came to light when a fan named Shelby Lynn took to social media to chronicle a situation she experienced while participating in the band’s “Row 0” party at the band’s show in Vilnius, Lithuania. According to multiple accounts, these parties are attended by young women who were personally hand-picked by members of Rammstein’s team.
In Lynn’s recollection of the events, she said she was introduced to Lindemann, who served shots of tequila to Lynn and the other women present. She notes that she’s not sure if it happened then, but she believes her drink may have been spiked, since she claims she was a stumbling mess for the rest of the night. Her allegations also include a situation where she was brought to a side room to be with Lindemann who expressed wanting to have sex with her during the show’s intermission, but she refused, resulting in a reportedly angry Lindemann.
Since then, a follow up report in German news outlet Tagesschau outlined claims by other women as well. In those cases, several women spoke up about their experiences with Lindemann, often corroborating what Lynn alleged. Though in once instance, a woman claimed she was subjected to non-consensual sex acts with the vocalist, while another woman said she “awoke in a hotel room to find Lindemann lying on her.” The woman said she was later offered drugs by Lindemann’s people.
As a result of these allegations, Lindemann was dropped by his publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Universal Music has suspended promotional efforts for the band, and Berlin prosecutors are investigating the allegations surrounding Lindemann.
While these allegations aren’t to be taken lightly, the allegations leveled by the women involved are still just allegations at the moment, as no charges have formally been filed.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit RAINN.org for more resources.
