by The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Faces) has defended its decision to nominate Arcade Fire, whose frontman Win Butler was recently accused of sexual misconduct by multiple people, for group of the year at this year’s Juno Awards.
“We view Arcade Fire’s nomination for group of the year as one for the entire band,” the Academy wrote in a statement to CBC Music. “While we take the allegations very seriously, in this situation we are also honoring the rest of the band for their success. We hope that the allegations against Butler do not detract from the achievements of the other members of the group.”
The Junos are the most prestigious music awards in Canadian music, the Canadian equivalent to the British or Grammys, and Arcade Fire, which also includes Butler’s wife Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara, won previously 11 awards, out of 25 nominations
They have faced controversy in recent months over a series of investigations by music website Pitchfork in which five people accused Butler of sexual misconduct. Three of the women cited alleged that Butler had used her celebrity status to pressure them into sexual situations, while one person alleged that Butler had kissed and touched them without consent; a fifth alleged that her relationship with Butler was “emotionally abusive, manipulative, toxic, and used her power dynamics to exploit my body.”
At the time, Butler released a statement via crisis publicist Risa Heller in which he strongly refuted that he had ever been involved in a non-consensual relationship, saying: “I have long struggled with mental health issues and ghosting. of child abuse. When I was 30 years old, I started drinking while dealing with the most severe depression of my life after our family suffered a miscarriage. None of this is meant to excuse my behavior, but I want to give some context and share what was going on in my life at the time.”
Related: Arcade Fire: Inside first concert since sexual misconduct allegations against frontman Win Butler
In the aftermath of Pitchfork’s investigation, Feist canceled his shows supporting Arcade Fire in Europe and the UK, while Beck withdrew from opening for the band on a North American tour. Some US radio stations began to drop the band, which had recently released its sixth album, We.
In 2018, the Canadian Academy decided to cancel a performance by Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard at the 2018 Junos after he was accused of sexual misconduct. “After careful consideration of the situation and in discussion with the band, Caras and Hedley have decided that the band will not perform at the 2018 Juno Awards,” he said at the time.
A band or their label must submit to be nominated on Junos, but nominations are based on “50% consumer, 25% academy delegate votes, 12.5% social data, and 12.5% audience audience.” radio”, which means that once submitted, Arcade Fire could have been nominated with minimal votes from the Academy itself.
