Mumford and Sons Guitarist Winston Marshall Quits after Divisive Tweet

Mumford & Sons’ lead guitarist and banjo player Winston Marshall has quit the band following backlash over a tweet supporting a right-wing author.

Throughout the Covid pandemic Marshall commented on the books he was reading via posts on social media. In the offending tweet he described conservative journalist Andy Ngo as a “brave man” for his book claiming far-left activists had “radical plans to destroy democracy”. 

Earlier this year the 33 year old took time away from the band, and now blames a “viral mob” for his decision to leave permanently. He says, “I could remain and continue to self-censor, but it will erode my sense of integrity”.

The music artist regrets the distress the Tweet has caused his bandmates. But he did not realise at the time how his comments would be perceived. He never imagined that “commenting on a book critical of the far-left could be interpreted as approval of the equally abhorrent far-right”. He says that this could not be further from the truth. Thirteen members of his own family were murdered in World War II concentration camps during the Holocaust.

‘A divisive and totemic issue’

Unfortunately for the band’s frontman, Marcus Mumford, a lot of the backlash unfairly aimed at him. As it his surname that makes up the name of the band, it was his name “dragged through some pretty ugly accusations” as a result of Marshall’s tweet.

In response, Marshall apologises for the distress the ordeal brought the whole band and their families. He regrets what happened, and remains “sincerely sorry”. “Unintentionally, I had pulled them into a divisive and totemic issue”, he adds.

Following the tweet, Marshall’s bandmates asked him to stay with them. Mumford & Sons have been together for 14 years since forming in London in 2007. The hugely successful four part band have four albums, two of which topped both the UK and US charts. However, when he took a break, another viral mob hit, criticising him this time for “the sin of apologising”.

‘Libellous’ accusations

Articles that call him right-wing are “libellous”, as Marshall describes his political views as somewhere between “centrist” and “liberal”. He claims that political discourse has become very binary, with the perception that people are either ‘left’ or ‘right’. “I had criticised the ‘left’, so I must be the ‘right’, or so their logic goes”.

The book that caused the issue is Amazon bestseller Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy. Nygo’s book has also appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for non-fiction.

Antifa is not an official organisation, but an abbreviation of anti-fascist. The word became widespread during Donald Trump’s reign as US president. It is particularly used in coverage of clashes with white supremacists.

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