Rammstein will not be investigated in Lithuania

The prosecutor’s office in Vilnius, Lithuania, said on Friday that it had not opened an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against the band Rammstein. This came after examining the circumstances of the incident surrounding Rammstein’s concert in Vilnius on May 22nd.

It was there that Shelby Lynn, a fan from Northern Ireland, claimed that her drink was spiked with a drug when she went backstage, and that the band’s lead singer, Till Lindemann, reacted very aggressively when she refused to have sex. with him.

According to the Public Ministry, the police questioned Lynn and a witness, analyzing data and documents to clarify the circumstances. According to a press release, “no objective factual evidence” was found during the examination that would prove that Lynn had been subjected to physical or mental coercion. There was also no evidence of other acts of violence of a sexual nature or that she had been forced to use drugs. The Public Ministry’s decision is still subject to appeal.

Shelby Lynn reacted promptly on social media, tweeting that it was “no big surprise” that Vilnius police “refused to investigate” and that an investigation in Berlin was ongoing.

The singer and band continue to deny the allegations.

Petitions call for cancellation of Berlin concerts

Meanwhile, two petitions signed by around 100,000 people demand that three Rammstein concerts scheduled for mid-July in Berlin be canceled due to sexual assault allegations against frontman Lindemann.

One stated: “Rammstein concerts must be cancelled! Berlin must not become a place for sexual abuse! We do not celebrate perpetrators!”

An investigation into the case has been launched in Germany and several politicians and public figures have commented on the allegations.

The Minister for the Family, Elderly, Women and Youth of Germany, Lisa Paus, does not believe that the accusations against Lindemann, lead singer of Rammstein, are an isolated fact. “Without prejudging the concrete case, from the way I perceive the discussion, we have a structural problem in the concert scene that is now finally being talked about”, she told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. Paus sees the task of organizers “to protect young fans in particular”.

‘Contempt for women and racism often go hand in hand’

Felix Klein, Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Anti-Semitism, also commented on the required cancellation. He finds it “questionable whether Rammstein’s planned concerts in Berlin should take place at the state-operated Olympic Stadium,” Felix Klein told Funke Mediengruppe newspapers on Monday.

“Anti-democratic discrimination such as anti-Semitism, contempt for women and racism often go hand in hand,” Klein continued, pointing out that Rammstein was also accused of mocking Holocaust victims via his video for the 2019 song “Deutschland”, which featured, among other scenes, the band members dressed as concentration camp prisoners and as Nazi henchmen.

“We must take women seriously, just as we must take Jews seriously when it comes to anti-Semitism,” Klein said. “We must not allow the boundaries of what can be said and done to be pushed further and further away, even under the guise of artistic freedom.”

Solidarity with the alleged victims

At the same time, 60-year-old Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann has already summoned his lawyers and sent cease and desist letters. “It has been repeatedly alleged that women were given rape drugs or alcohol at Rammstein concerts to allow our client to perform sexual acts on them. These allegations are, without exception, false,” they said.

The women who now receive correspondence from Lindemann’s lawyers are getting celebrity endorsements. To prevent alleged victims from being intimidated by legal fees, YouTuber Rezo, actress Nora Tschirner and German comedian Carolin Kebekus are asking for donations on Instagram, “to allow for equal opportunity in the case,” Tschirner said.

Prosecution attorney investigating Rammstein

Following reports of accusations against the Rammstein singer, the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation against him. This was done on the basis of multiple reports of offense to the police, it was said.

Several women have leveled serious allegations against Lindemann in recent weeks.

The wave of accusations followed an initial testimony posted on different social media platforms by Shelby Lynn from Northern Ireland, in which she described how she ended up drugged and injured after partying backstage at a Rammstein concert in Lithuania. She told DW of the threats she has faced since then: “There have been death threats and bounties for me, 200,000 whatever, things like – direct quote – ‘I want to find you and rape you; I hope you die; liar, whore; bitch; groupie; what do you expect if you’re dressed like that?'”

Lynn says she is not intimidated by these threats. “What I care about is getting those voices really heard for the first time. And if that means I have to be the person to stand up to the onslaught of hate, I don’t care. Go for it.”

Meanwhile, in interviews with the newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and public broadcaster NDR, other women also described being specifically recruited to have sex with the singer. Two women also reported alleged sexual acts to which they did not consent. The band denied the allegations.

Stars in Power

According to Paus, the case exposes a fundamental problem: “Some public events are not organized in a way that women and girls can really feel safe.” There are “stars who clearly abuse their position of power over women,” she said. Both things must change, the minister demanded.

Even if the cancellation of the shows is unlikely – there have also been petitions against the tour by singer Roger Waters, who is accused of anti-Semitism – at least it is certain that there will be no post-show parties in Berlin, as the Berlin senator for the Interior and sports Iris Spranger announced last week.

Still, the criticism doesn’t seem to have affected Rammstein’s success. On the latest Top 100 album charts, the group is again represented with six of their eight studio albums to date, and all have managed to gain ground significantly.

This article was originally written in German and adapted into English by Louisa Schaefer. The interview with Shelby Lynn was conducted by Giulia Saudelli.