Back in March, Mumford & Sons banjoist Winston Marshall tweeted his support for right-wing provocateur Andy Ngo following the release of his book Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan To Destroy Democracy and was criticized widely for calling him a “brave man.” A few days later, Marshall stepped away from the band temporarily and now, he’s out of the band permanently.
In a post on Medium, Marshall outlined his decision to leave the band.
“I believed this tweet to be as innocuous as the others. How wrong I turned out to be,” he wrote.
Continuing, Marshall said that anyone calling him a “fascist was ludicrous beyond belief” and that 13 members of his family were murdered during the Holocaust and that his grandmother survived it.
Following the initial blowback, Marshall said despite emotions being high, Mumford & Sons “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.”
In justifying his decision to leave, Marshall said, “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.”
In response, the band shared a statement in support of Marshall on Instagram, which you can see below.
You can read Marshall’s full statement on Medium here.
