Fifth woman makes allegations against Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler
A fifth woman was come forward to make allegations of inappropriate behaviour against Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler.
In August, Butler was accused of sexual misconduct by four women who alleged his behaviour took place between 2015 and 2020. He responded to the allegations published in Pitchfork and stated: “While these relationships were all consensual, I am very sorry to anyone I have hurt with my behaviour”.
Since the publication released the report, another woman has since come forward to Pitchfork. They have seen a message sent by Butler on August 27th, 2017, which reads, “Please forgive me for being hurt”.
Allegedly, the woman was ignoring multiple texts from Butler asking for sex in the early hours of the morning. The publication confirmed that there are hundreds of screenshots between the singer and a woman who wants to be referred to as Sabina. It is alleged the messages were over a three-year timespan when they were in a sexual relationship, which Sabina now views as “emotionally manipulative”.
“It was an ongoing abusive relationship,” she said. “Emotionally abusive, manipulative, toxic, and using his power dynamic to exploit my body at times that were convenient for him. He met me when I was so vulnerable.”
Butler, who is currently touring the United States with Arcade Fire, previously accepted having sexual interactions with the four people mentioned in the August report. However, he claimed they were all consensual encounters. The frontman said: “I have long struggled with mental health issues and the ghosts of childhood abuse. In my 30s, I started drinking as I dealt with the heaviest depression of my life after our family experienced a miscarriage. None of this is intended to excuse my behaviour, but I do want to give some context and share what was happening in my life around this time.”
Sabina reportedly met Butler in 2015 when she was 22 and he was 35. She had recently left a strict religious group and started studying in Montreal after becoming divorced and working as a waitress. Through her job, she met Butler, who invited her to a dance party he was hosting, which was also attended by Madonna.
At the time, Sabina had a boyfriend who came with her to the party, but allegedly Butler “didn’t care” about her relationship status. “We were sitting and talking about probably Simone de Beauvoir or something, and I remember being alarmed that it had progressed to kissing,” she said about one evening they went for a drink.
She claims they first had sex at Butler’s Montreal studio in December 2015, and Sabina broke up with her boyfriend a few months later. “In general, it was an abusive dynamic,” she said of their sex to Pitchfork. “It was really aggressive, and I felt like I just had to do what he said. I was not really comfortable with some of the things he was asking me to do, but doing them anyway. And that is ultimately dehumanizing.”
Sabina added: “I think he genuinely wouldn’t know if something was consensual or not.”
Sabina also discussed the emotional abuse she received from Butler when she didn’t respond favourably to his sexual texts. She said: “He would make you feel so bad about it. You’re being cut off from contact if you don’t agree to sexual favours.”
Pitchfork also claims to have seen an unsolicited graphic photograph of Butler masturbating, which caused Sabina to “burst into tears”.
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