Allegation

Ever since frontman Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct by several people in 2022, Arcade Fire's hometown scene has struggled with how to respond.

And it wasn't appropriate to be praising someone accused of sexual assault, certainly not on the platform of Polaris being streamed live on CBC Music, a public-funded media. As much as she loved the music, she came to a painful realization. With scant coverage on the allegations, consequences were practically nonexistent, which only adds to the culture of silence in the music industry. To most of the people who spoke for this article, the accusations against Win Butler came as a surprise. I do feel that I'm in a position where I would be believed and that I would be taken seriously, but I'm still scared of the repercussions. "I was a freelance music journalist in charge of the music section of Nightlife and I used to spend time on a forum called Montréal Shows. Carr described the city as the breeding ground for a creative, out-of-the-ordinary music scene: "Being the biggest destination [for music] in a region almost guarantees an influx of musically inclined, disaffected young people to both play in and listen to bands. "Around this time, in 2003, there was already a cult around them in the underground scene," Lalande says. "Being at their show at the time had the same energy as being at church in front of a priest," Jetté says. Butler is a star who both enabled and troubled the growth of a scene that has been recognized globally for its creative talent. [...] I'm sorry I wasn't more aware and tuned in to the effect I have on people — I f***** up, and while not an excuse, I will continue to look forward and heal what can be healed, and learn from past experiences." The story also alleged that Butler sexually assaulted a fourth person, who is gender-fluid, "twice in 2015, when they were 21 and he was 34."