(Berlin) In the middle of a European tour, the singer of Rammstein, one of the most popular metal bands in the world, is accused of having been at the center of a real system intended to sexually assault groupies after concerts.
The accusations, made in recent days in the German press by several women, are considered serious enough for the government to now require concert organizers to protect the public.
Targeting the German-speaking group selling the most albums in the world, these suspicions could mark the “end of the show” for the sulphurous industrial metal group, predicts the Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of the newspapers behind the revelations.
The case began at the end of May with the testimony of a 24-year-old Irish woman accusing the singer and lyricist of the group, Till Lindemann, of having drugged and sexually assaulted her after a concert the same month in Lithuania.
This testimony released the words of other young women, all describing more or less the same scenario.
The groupies would have been spotted in the front rows of the concerts, filmed or photographed so that Lindemann could make his choice, before for some of them being invited backstage for parties. Some would then have been drugged before being assaulted by the 60-year-old singer.
The group strongly denies these accusations, while claiming to “take them very seriously”.
“It’s important to us that (fans) feel comfortable and safe at our concerts, in front of and behind the stage,” reads a statement posted on Instagram.
An assistant of the group, Alena Makeeva, would have proposed to young women to join the group backstage. This woman of Russian nationality has been excluded from the entourage of the group, reports the weekly Die Welt on Tuesday.
A 21-year-old German YouTuber, Kayla Shyx, recounted in a 30-minute video that she was approached with a friend at a concert in 2022 by Makeeva, who invited them to an “after party”.
Taken to a room where a dozen other girls were said to have been, she was allegedly encouraged to drink alcohol after security agents confiscated the mobile phones.
“Suddenly I realize: I am there as a sexual object. Panic ! », Recounts the young woman, who finally managed to leave the premises.
Faced with these accusations, the German government requested protective measures for the female public of Rammstein.
“Young people in particular need to be better protected against attacks,” German Family Minister, environmentalist Lisa Paus, told AFP.
In particular, the Minister proposes the establishment of protective zones for women during concerts as well as teams likely to intervene in the event of sexual assault.
We must discuss “quickly and concretely” protective measures, asks the minister, for whom “a serious debate on the responsibility of artists and organizers vis-à-vis their admirers would be useful”.
Four sold-out Rammstein concerts are scheduled for this week at the Olympic Stadium in Munich. The area just in front of the stage (“Row Zero”) where the singer allegedly spotted the young women will be removed.
“The organizer informed us yesterday that there will be no Row Zero or Aftershow Party here at home,” stadium spokesman Tobias Kohler told AFP.
The group, founded in 1994 by musicians from the former GDR and experienced in provocations in its clips, must notably perform in the coming weeks in France, Italy, Switzerland or even Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Austria.
Rammstein — whose name refers to the air disaster on an American base in the eponymous city in 1988 — is the most famous German-speaking group in the world.
He is known for his spectacular performances on stage with a lot of pyrotechnics and for his taste for provocation, which has already earned him accusations of proximity to Nazi ideology, firmly rejected by musicians.
In March 2019, the group had aroused violent criticism after the broadcast of a video where its members appear as concentration camp prisoners.
