Rammstein lawyers to file charges against accusers

Rammstein lead singer Till Lindemann has refuted all allegations of wrongful sex against him. The 60-year-old will now be represented by Berlin lawyers Simon Bergman and Christian Schertz.

The lawyers released a statement on June 8, saying: "In social networks, especially on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, various women have made serious accusations against our client. For example, it was repeatedly claimed that women were drugged with the help of knockout drops or alcohol at Rammstein concerts in order to enable our client to perform sexual acts on them. These allegations are without exception false."

Earlier this week, German rock band Rammstein released a statement on Instagram in response to accusations of sexual assault and abuse of power against lead singer Till Lindemann.

In the statement, the band urged fans not to "prejudge" in the wake of last week's media reports in Germany, with testimonies from women alleging a systematic process of luring females to backstage parties in order to satisfy Lindemann's sexual demands.

"The publications of the last few days have caused irritation and questions among the public and especially among our fans," the post on social media began. "The accusations have hit us all very hard and we take them extremely seriously."

"To our fans we say: It is important to us that you feel comfortable and safe at our shows — in front of and behind the stage."

"We condemn any kind of assault and ask you: Do not participate in prejudgments of any kind toward those who have made accusations. They have a right to their point of view."

"But we, the band, also have a right — not to be prejudged either."

Accusations of aggression, luring women

Last month, Shelby Lynn, a fan from Ireland, traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania, to attend a Rammstein concert.

There, she was invited to an after-show party. She reported that, at the party, she met Lindemann, and that he wanted to have sex with her. Lynn said Lindemann reacted very aggressively when she declined the invitation.

Lynn detailed her suspicions that one of her drinks had been spiked with drugs, owing to the fact that she had no memory of a part of the evening after having only two drinks and a shot of tequila. She said she was left bruised and vomiting for 24 hours after the concert. Lynn posted a picture of her injuries online and filed a complaint.

On June 2, German public broadcaster NDR and daily Süddeutsche Zeitung published a report with testimonies of women whose experiences mirror those described by Lynn, suggesting a systematic process to lure women to after-show parties, who were reportedly specifically chosen to have sex with Lindemann.

Statutory declarations of more than a dozen women have been documented in the German media outlets. The women describe how they were approached by Rammstein's team, either through Instagram or in-person at the concerts. Some of them were asked to send photos in advance of attending the concert, or were photographed and filmed on site. The selected women said were asked to dress in a particular manner and were given access to what is known as "row zero" during the show, a special restricted space directly in front of the stage.

One woman reports that she was even directly informed that access to the party was contingent on her expressing an interest in having sex with Lindemann.

Publisher KiWi drops Lindemann

In light of the allegations, Lindemann's publisher, Kiepenheuer & Witsch (KiWi), has dropped him as a client.

The German publishing house released a statement saying it was "shocked" by the allegations against Lindemann, adding its "sympathy and respect goes to the women affected."

KiWi also said that "in the course of the recent reports, we became aware of a porn video in which Till Lindemann celebrates sexual violence against women and in which the 2013 book In Still Night published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch plays a role. We rate this as gross breach of trust and as a ruthless act in relation to the values ​​we represent as a publisher."

"From our point of view," the KiWi statement continued, "Till Lindemann exceeds immovable limits in dealing with women. We have therefore decided to end our collaboration with Till Lindemann with immediate effect, as our relationship of trust has been irretrievably broken."

Edited by: Louisa Schaefer