Juno Awards defend Arcade Fireplace nomination, say they’re “honouring the remainder of the band”
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has defended Arcade Fireplace being among the many nominees for this yr’s Juno Awards regardless of the sexual misconduct allegations in opposition to frontman Win Butler.
Nominations for this years awards have been revealed on Tuesday (February 31), and Arcade Fireplace are nominated within the Group of the Yr class alongside Billy Expertise, Metric, Arkells and The Reklaws.
In August, Butler was accused of sexual misconduct by 4 individuals – who have been between 18 and 23 years previous on the time of the alleged interactions, between 2015 and 2020 – who accused him of “inappropriate” behaviour. These actions ranged from sexual assault to sending undesirable specific textual content messages and pursuing relationships with followers of the band a lot youthful than him.
In November, a fifth particular person got here ahead to accuse Butler of “emotionally abusive, manipulative, poisonous” behaviour in the direction of them, saying the musician used “his energy dynamic to take advantage of my physique at instances that have been handy for him”. Butler has denied allegations of misconduct, saying he was “very sorry to anybody who I’ve harm with my behaviour” however that each one contact along with his accusers was “consensual”.
Arcade Fireplace’s nomination on this yr Juno Awards sparked backlash on social media, with many questioning the choice to incorporate an artist with allegations of sexual misconduct within the shortlist. The Academy has since defended Arcade Fireplace’s inclusion, arguing that the nomination highlights Butler’s bandmates.
“We have a look at Arcade Fireplace’s nomination for group of the yr as one for the complete band,” the Academy mentioned in an announcement to CBC. “Whereas we take the allegations very severely, on this scenario, we’re additionally honouring the remainder of the band for his or her success. We hope the allegations in opposition to Butler won’t detract from the achievements of the opposite group members.”
Group of the Yr eligibility within the Juno Awards is decided by plenty of elements, together with gross sales and streaming consumption, delegate vote, social media presence and radio viewers. The winner is finally decided by Academy delegates’ votes.
Along with Butler, Arcade Fireplace additionally contains founding member (and Butler’s spouse) Régine Chassagne, together with longtime guitarist Richard Reed Parry, bassist Tim Kingsbury and drummer Jeremy Gara. When the accusations in opposition to Butler have been first reported, Chassagne shared her personal assertion, by which she mentioned: “I do know [Butler] has by no means, and would by no means, contact a lady with out her consent and I’m sure he by no means did.”
Days after the preliminary allegations in opposition to Butler have been made public, Arcade Fireplace launched into a UK and European tour in assist of their most up-to-date album, final yr’s ‘WE’. Feist, who had been booked because the tour’s most important assist act, withdrew shortly after. In late October, the band started a North American tour. Equally, Beck, who had been booked to open exhibits on the run, dropped off the tour earlier than it commenced.
The Junos – that are set to happen this yr at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta on March 13 – will not be the one upcoming music awards Arcade Fireplace have been nominated in. This weekend, the band are up for Finest Various Music on the 2023 Grammy Awards.