Arcade Fire's Juno nomination spurs controversy due to sex allegations

Arcade Fire’s Juno Awards nomination for Group of the Year is a source of growing controversy.

Several Canadian musicians and commentators have taken to social media since the Juno nominations were announced on Tuesday, decrying the nomination in light of the sexual misconduct allegations against the Montreal band’s lead singer Win Butler.

Music artist Rae Spoon took to Twitter with a call to “Boycott the Juno Awards until they remove Arcade Fire from nominations. They can be nominated when they stop being fronted by that guy with all the sexual harassment accusations.”

Singer-songwriter Jenn Grant also tweeted her strong disapproval.

On Thursday, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) responded to the growing outcry. “We look at Arcade Fire’s nomination for Group of the Year as one for the entire band,” the Academy wrote to CBC Music. “While we take the allegations very seriously, in this situation, we are also honouring the rest of the band for their success. We hope the allegations against Butler will not detract from the achievements of the other group members.”

Reached Friday, a spokesperson for CARAS declined to comment further.

Arcade Fire’s other members include Butler’s wife Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. Buassment allegationstler’s younger brother Will left the band in March of last year, saying it was “time for new things.”

Culture writer Jill Krajewski was not convinced by the Academy’s statement. She pointed to CARAS’s policy stating its right to disqualify a submission due to “any allegation made by a third party regarding any act, omission, conduct association or statement of Nominee (which) does or might reflect unfavourably” on the nominee or CARAS.

International publications including Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Guardian, NME covered the situation in recent days.

In August, influential music site Pitchfork published a report outlining multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Butler. Three women, who were between 18 and 23 at the time of the alleged incidents, told Pitchfork similar accounts of how Butler – then between 36 and 39 – befriended and aggressively pursued them, in person and online, between 2016 and 2020 in Montreal. A fourth person, who identifies as gender fluid, alleged Butler sexually assaulted them twice with unwarranted touching and kisses, when they were 21 and he was 34. In November, Pitchfork published allegations by another woman, who said she had a three-year sexual relationship with Butler beginning in 2015, when she was 22 and he was 35, and described his behaviour toward her as “emotionally abusive, manipulative, toxic.”

In a statement made through New York-based crisis public relations expert Risa Heller, Butler denied to the music site there was any non-consensual behaviour.

In light of the news, Feist and Beck pulled out as opening acts of Arcade Fire’s European and North American fall tours, respectively. Many fans demanded refunds for the shows, and an online petition to that effect started by two Montrealers garnered over 1,400 signatures.

This was not a big year for Arcade Fire in terms of Juno nominations. The band was only nominated for Group of the Year; Arcade Fire’s 2022 album WE was not nominated in any other category. For comparison, in 2018, Arcade Fire’s album Everything Now received three Juno nominations – winning Album of the Year – in addition to the band being nominated for Group of the Year. Arcade Fire has won 11 Juno Awards and been nominated 25 times over the course of its career.

The allegations against Butler didn’t prevent the band from being nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album at this Sunday’s awards.

The Juno Awards will be presented March 13.

tdunlevy@postmedia.com

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