Winston Marshall, a guitarist and banjo player for the popular pop-folk band Mumford & Sons, has quit the group so he can speak freely about hot-button issues.
Marshall announced his departure from the “I Will Wait” band after taking a break from the group in March, when he faced intense backlash from the left for tweeting he enjoyed reading journalist Andy Ngo’s book, “Unmasked,” which explores the dark underbelly of the antifa movement.
In a newly published post on Medium, he said he “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.”
Marshall said he and his fellow band members received a plethora of “ugly accusations” in the wake of his tweet.
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“The distress brought to them and their families that weekend I regret very much,” he wrote. “I remain sincerely sorry for that. Unfortunately, I had pulled them into a divisive and totemic issue.”
He described the vile backlash he faced as “another level” of “abuse.”
Marshall lauded his fellow band members for their “courage” in inviting him to remain with the group, but made the decision to leave, citing the fact that — after facing the initial scorn — he was targeted by “another viral mob” when he apologized for praising Ngo’s book.
“The only way forward for me is to leave the band,” Marshall continued. “I hope in distancing myself from them I am able to speak my mind without them suffering the consequences. I leave with love in my heart and I wish those three boys nothing but the best. I have no doubt that their stars will shine long into the future.”
He went on to explain he wants to continue to speak out on these issues, but knows that doing so while remaining part of Mumford & Sons would “inevitably bring my band mates more trouble” and his “love, loyalty, and accountability to them cannot permit that.”
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“I could remain and continue to self-censor, but it will erode my sense of integrity, gnaw my conscience,” he wrote. “I’ve already felt that beginning. Then only way forward is for me to leave the band.”
Marshall’s father, Sir Paul Marshall, a millionaire Brexiteer, shared his son’s Medium post, expressing support for his decision to leave the band.
“[I’m] very proud of my son,” he tweeted.
As for his praise of Ngo, Marshall maintains that the journalist’s work to report on antifa is “unquestionably brave.”