Winston Marshall officially quits Mumford & Sons
He releases a statement
Mumford & Sons banjo player and co-founder Winston Marshall has announced he's quitting the band after 14 years.
Back in March, Winston Marshall confirmed he was taking a hiatus from Mumford & Sons after he was met with a backlash for praising a book on Twitter called ‘Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan To Destroy Democracy’ by US journalist Andy Ngo.
In the now deleted tweet, 33-year-old Marshall called the book “important” and hailed Ngo as “brave.”
Three months on, Marshall has now issued a lengthy statement confirming he’s leaving Mumford & Sons permanently and explaining his reasons why.
Commenting on the tweet, Marshall wrote: “I believed this tweet to be as innocuous as the others. How wrong I turned out to be.
“Over the course of 24 hours it was trending with tens of thousands of angry retweets and comments. I failed to foresee that my commenting on a book critical of the Far-Left could be interpreted as approval of the equally abhorrent Far-Right.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. Thirteen members of my family were murdered in the concentration camps of the Holocaust. My Grandma, unlike her cousins, aunts and uncles, survived. She and I were close. My family knows the evils of fascism painfully well. To say the least. To call me “fascist” was ludicrous beyond belief.”
Marshall went on to say that he regretted his bandmates and friends being dragged into the furore, writing: “I’ve had plenty of abuse over the years. I’m a banjo player after all. But this was another level. And, owing to our association, my friends, my bandmates, were getting it too. It took me more than a moment to understand how distressing this was for them.
"Despite being four individuals we were, in the eyes of the public, a unity. Furthermore it’s our singer’s name on the tin. That name was being dragged through some pretty ugly accusations, as a result of my tweet. The distress brought to them and their families that weekend I regret very much. I remain sincerely sorry for that. Unintentionally, I had pulled them into a divisive and totemic issue.
“Emotions were high. Despite pressure to nix me they invited me to continue with the band. That took courage, particularly in the age of so called “cancel culture”. I made an apology and agreed to take a temporary step back.
“Rather predictably another viral mob came after me, this time for the sin of apologising. Then followed libellous articles calling me “right-wing” and such. Though there’s nothing wrong with being conservative, when forced to politically label myself I flutter between “centrist”, “liberal” or the more honest “bit this, bit that”. Being labelled erroneously just goes to show how binary political discourse has become. I had criticised the “Left”, so I must be the “Right”, or so their logic goes.”
Revealing why he apologied in March, Marshall continued: “In the mania of the moment I was desperate to protect my bandmates. The hornets’ nest that I had unwittingly hit had unleashed a black-hearted swarm on them and their families. I didn’t want them to suffer for my actions, they were my priority.
“Secondly, I was sincerely open to the fact that maybe I did not know something about the author or his work. “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak,” Churchill once said, “courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen”. And so I listened.
“I have spent much time reflecting, reading and listening. The truth is that my commenting on a book that documents the extreme Far-Left and their activities is in no way an endorsement of the equally repugnant Far-Right. The truth is that reporting on extremism at the great risk of endangering oneself is unquestionably brave. I also feel that my previous apology in a small way participates in the lie that such extremism does not exist, or worse, is a force for good.
Explaining why he’s leaving the band, Marshall quoted a 1974 essay called ‘Live Not By The Lies’, which was written by author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn shortly before his exile from the Soviet Union.
Marshall concluded: “For me to speak about what I’ve learnt to be such a controversial issue will inevitably bring my bandmates more trouble. My love, loyalty and accountability to them cannot permit that. I could remain and continue to self-censor but it will erode my sense of integrity. Gnaw my conscience. I’ve already felt that beginning.
“The only way forward for me is to leave the band. I hope in distancing myself from them I am able to speak my mind without them suffering the consequences. I leave with love in my heart and I wish those three boys nothing but the best. I have no doubt that their stars will shine long into the future. I will continue my work with Hong Kong Link Up and I look forward to new creative projects as well as speaking and writing on a variety of issues, challenging as they may be.”
You can read Winston Marshall’s full post here.
In response to Marshall’s exit, Mumford & Sons’ Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett and Ted Duane wrote: “We wish you all the best for the future, Win, and we love you man.”