Rammstein singer loses book publishing contract following sexual assault allegations
Rammstein singer Till Lindemann has lost a book publishing deal following an allegation of spiking a fan’s drink while on tour in Lithuania and further allegations of sexual assault from more female fans. He denies all the claims.
On May 23rd, Reddit user Shelby69666 shared a since-deleted post to the Rammstein subreddit ‘Fuck Rammstein’ which showed a bruised body with the caption: “Spiked, no idea when this happened”. The next day, a Twitter account with the same Shelby69666 username appeared and went into more detail about the allegations.
Shelby claimed that before the concert, she messaged Aleena Makeeva, who has been alleged on Reddit of inviting girls to stand at the front of shows and arranging for them to attend after-parties. She claims Makeeva was forthcoming and invited her to a WhatsApp group. On June 6th, German media reported Makeeva has been banned from all future Rammstein shows and isn’t employed by the band.
The alleged victim claims Joe Letz, a member of the singer’s side project Lindemann, took her along with other girls to a backstage pre-party before the concert, where she was given alcohol and told to place her phone on the table.
Shelby recalls attending the after-party and making it clear to Lindemann that she did not want to have sexual relations with him, which he accepted. She wrote: “Till did NOT touch me. He accepted I did not want to have sex with him”.
Subsequently, the band denied the accusations on Twitter, writing: “With regard to the allegations circulating on the internet about Vilnius, we can rule out the possibility that what is being claimed took place in our environment. We are not aware of any official investigations into this matter.”
Furthermore, on June 2nd, more accusations were published by the German publication Tagesshau, with multiple women coming forward to accuse Lindemann of sexual assault. In light of the report, the singer’s book publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch distanced themselves from him.
They said in a statement: “It is with shock that we have followed public allegations against Till Lindemann in the last few days. Our sympathy and respect goes to the women affected.” The publishing house continued, “From our point of view, Till Lindemann exceeds immovable limits in dealing with women.”
In response, Rammstein said: “The publications of the last few days have caused irritation and questions among the public and especially among our fans. The allegations hit us all very hard, and we take them extremely seriously. We say to our fans: It is important to us that you feel comfortable and safe at our shows – in front of and behind the stage.”
The statement continued: “We condemn any kind of transgression and ask you: Do not engage in public prejudice of any kind against those who have made allegations. You have a right to your point of view. But we, the band, also have a right – namely not to be prejudiced either.”
This is a developing story.
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