Mumford & Sons guitarist Winston Marshall announced he’s leaving the band after being attacked on social media for tweeting in approval of journalist Andy Ngo’s book.
“At the beginning of March I tweeted to American journalist Andy Ngo, author of the New York Times Bestseller, ‘Unmasked,'” the 33-year-old performer wrote Thursday on Medium. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘I’m Still Dealing With Some Lasting Health Issues’: Journalist Andy Ngo Sues Antifa)
“Why I’m Leaving Mumford & Sons” by Winston Marshallhttps://t.co/JUraN3IDr3
— Winston Marshall (@MrWinMarshall) June 24, 2021
“‘Congratulations @MrAndyNgo,'” he wrote at the time on Twitter about the author’s book “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy.” “Finally had the time to read your important book. You’re a brave man.”
“Posting about books had been a theme of my social-media throughout the pandemic. I believed this tweet to be as innocuous as the others. How wrong I turned out to be,” Marshall continued on Medium. (RELATED: ‘Baying For My Blood’: Journalist Andy Ngo Was Savagely Attacked By Antifa … Again)
“Over the course of 24 hours it was trending with tens of thousands of angry retweets and comments,” Marshall said. “I failed to foresee that my commenting on a book critical of the Far-Left could be interpreted as approval of the equally abhorrent Far-Right.”
The founding member of the band explained how “ludicrous” it was when he was being called a “fascist” as he shared “thirteen members” of his “family were murdered in the concentration camps of the Holocaust.”
Winston talked about how the “abuse” he underwent was more than anything he had ever experienced in his entire life and seeing his friends and bandmates also getting hit because of their association to him was too much.
At the time, he apologized and agreed to take a step back from the band to bring them relief and “protect” them.
“The truth is that my commenting on a book that documents the extreme Far-Left and their activities is in no way an endorsement of the equally repugnant Far-Right,” the guitarist wrote. “The truth is that reporting on extremism at the great risk of endangering oneself is unquestionably brave. I also feel that my previous apology in a small way participates in the lie that such extremism does not exist, or worse, is a force for good.”
“I could remain and continue to self-censor but it will erode my sense of integrity,” Marshall concluded. “The only way forward for me is to leave the band. I hope in distancing myself from them I am able to speak my mind without them suffering the consequences.”