Rammstein Drummer Christoph Schneider Issues Statement on Till Lindemann Allegations

Rammstein drummer Christoph Schneider has issued a statement on his personal social media accounts regarding the recent allegations that have been made against Till Lindemann.

The Rammstein vocalist is currently under investigation in the city of Berlin over sexual assault and drug-related allegations that various women have made against him online over the last few weeks, according to Barron's. The vocalist's publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch has since dropped him as a client, and Universal Music has halted their marketing and promotion for the band amid the investigation, according to a statement the label gave to the New York Times.

Rammstein have issued multiple statements on their social media accounts denying that the allegations against Lindemann are true, most recently writing on June 3, "We condemn any kind of transgressions and ask you: do not engage in public prejudice of any kind against those who have made allegations. You have a right to your point of view. But we, the band, also have a right — namely not to be prejudiced either."

Now, Schneider, who's been the band's drummer since its formation in 1994, has shared his own sentiments regarding the claims on his social media [translated from German via Google Translate].

Dear people,

I would like to share my personal emotions and thoughts with you.

The accusations of the last few weeks have deeply shaken us as a band and me as a person. You fans certainly too. I feel as if in shock by the things that have been shared on social media and in the press and in print about our singer. This is an ebb and flow of emotions for us band members and crew.

No, I don't think anything criminally relevant (such as the use of knockout drops) happened. No. I don't think anything illegal was going on, I've never seen anything like it, nor heard anything like it from any of our crew of 100 people. All I heard from Till's parties were adults celebrating together. And yet things seem to have happened that, although legally ok, I personally don't think are ok. Certain structures have grown that went beyond the limits and values of the other band members. It is also important to us that Till's parties are not confused with our official after-show parties.

Till has distanced himself from us in recent years and created his own bubble.

With their own people, their own parties, their own projects. That made me sad, definitely. I believe Till when he tells us that he always wanted and still wants to give his private guests a good time. How exactly these guests had imagined this, however, seems to differ in some cases from his own ideas. The wishes and expectations of the women who have now come forward were probably not fulfilled. According to their statements, they felt uncomfortable, on the edge of a situation that they could no longer control.

I feel sorry for her and I feel compassion. However, it is important for me to emphasize something objective: every guest in the backstage area is free to leave (they may have to wait a moment for security to lead them safely to the exit). All bottles are sealed and in full view of the guests freshly opened or they open them themselves.

Water and snacks are available just like Security personnel and medical care available at any time. We want all of our guests to feel comfortable and safe with us!

This is our standard. So I'm sorry to hear that some didn't feel that way.

We have the greatest fans in the world and they all deserve to be treated with respect! I'm sorry for anyone who wasn't treated kindly or felt unsafe backstage with us.

Also for Shelby, she deserved a great concert and a wonderful evening.

But I don't want this whole public dispute about our band to feed the extremes: neither the beast social media, which has not yet been tamed by our society, nor paternalistic tendencies to deny women in their mid-20s the ability to make self-determined decisions about their sexuality and also by no means victim blaming, so that people continue to date to talk about it if something happened to them. I wish for a calm, level-headed reflection and processing, also in our band.

And all together, six of us. We stand together.

Your Christoph Schneider.

 

READ MORE: Rammstein Appear to Have Stopped Playing 'Pussy' Live

Last month, a woman who attended the band's concert in Vilnius, Lithuania wrote a string of posts on Reddit and Twitter claiming that she was drugged during the show's pre-party after being invited by the band's former assistant Alena Makeeva, who has since been fired, according to Finnish publication Helsingin Sanomat [via Google Translate].

The woman further alleged that she was recruited to have sex with Lindemann under the stage, but she declined. Although she has asserted that she was not sexually assaulted, she shared photos and videos of apparent bruises that she woke up with the morning after the show, and claimed she felt sick the whole day despite not consuming a lot of alcohol during the night.

Since then, various other women have made accusations against the singer, though his lawyers have denied the claims and called them "without exception untrue," as noted by Barron's.