#Winston Marshall Officially Leaves Mumford & Sons After Controversially Praising Right-Wing Book, Regrets Previous Apology

This past March, Winston Marshall, a founding member of Mumford & Sons, announced he’d be “taking time away” from the band after facing severe criticism for a tweet he posted praising the book Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy, written by right-wing commentator Andy Ngo. At the time, Marshall apologized to people he offended by co-signing the book, stating that he’d be taking time to “examine [his] blindspots.”

Today, Marshall has announced his departure from Mumford & Sons in a self-published statement on Medium, in which he also retracts his apology:

I have spent much time reflecting, reading and listening. 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 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.

At one point, Marshall invokes his family history as he tries to assert that any insinuations that he was endorsing the far-right views of Ngo are inaccurate:

Nothing could be further from the truth. Thirteen members of my family were murdered in the concentration camps of the Holocaust. My Grandma, unlike her cousins, aunts and uncles, survived. She and I were close. My family knows the evils of fascism painfully well. To say the least. To call me “fascist” was ludicrous beyond belief.

Marshall states that his reason for leaving Mumford & Sons is so that he can continue to speak freely on issues he deems important. “I could remain and continue to self-censor but it will erode my sense of integrity. Gnaw my conscience. I’ve already felt that beginning,” he writes. “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. 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.”

Pitchfork has reached out to Mumford & Sons for additional comment and information.