Feist joins Arcade Fire on tour and donates proceeds to Women’s Aid
Arcade Fire have continued with their WE tour despite recent allegations of sexual misconduct against frontman Win Butler, all of which he has denied. The UK/ROI leg of the tour kicked off in Dublin last night, with Feist opening as planned but donating all proceeds from march sales to Women’s Aid.
Fans arrived at the venue to see Feist’s merch stall sporting a flyer that read: “All proceeds from Feist merchandise will be donated to Women’s Aid Dublin”. So far, the Canadian singer-songwriter hasn’t commented on the accusations, although it’s important to remember that she hasn’t been using social media at all since early May.
The move has been met with a mixed reaction. Taking to Twitter to express his dismay, writer Adam Grimord-Isham wrote: “What a shitshow! Feist refusing to cancel as opener and just donating her fee? SMH”. Journalist Jill Krajewski was equally shocked: “Business as usual after a red-hot sexual assault and misconduct investigation? Not very twee of you.”
However, it looks as though Feist would have been unable to remove herself from the tour or speak out against the situation due to contractual obligations, even if she’d wanted to. Journalist Alheli Picazo argued that “people should call on Arcade Fire to proactively release” Feist from her contract. “What can or should she reasonably be expected to do?” they concluded.
As Arcade Fire’s tour goes on, it remains unclear if Feist will continue to donate the proceeds from her march stall. According to the organisation’s website, Woman’s Aid “has been working in Ireland to stop domestic violence against women and children since 1974”.
The accusations levelled against Win Butler made headlines when Pitchfork published an investigation about four people who had claimed the frontman had been sexually “inappropriate” with them. At the time, Butler said, “I’m very sorry to anyone who I have hurt with my behaviour,” maintaining that “these relationships were all consensual”.
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