Rammstein Deny Allegation That Singer Till Lindemann Spiked A Fan’s Drink At Concert Pre-Party
Rammstein have issued a statement denying allegations that their singer, Till Lindemann, spiked a fan’s drink at a concert pre-party in Vilnius, Lithuania.
On May 23, in a since-deleted message, Reddit user Shelby69666 shared a post to the Rammstein subreddit titled “Fuck Rammstein.” As Loudwire reports, the post included a photo of a bruise on her body and the phrase “Spiked, no idea when this happened.” The forum’s moderators removed numerous threads stemming from that post on the grounds that they were based on hearsay.
The following day, a Twitter account with the same Shelby69666 username, using the display name Shelby Lynn, elaborated on the allegations. Per Shelby, on Instagram last week she direct-messaged Aleena Makeeva, who allegedly recruits women to stand in the front row at Rammstein concerts, seeking to find a way into the band’s concert afterparty in Vilnius. She says Makeeva responded affirmatively to her request and invited her to a WhatsApp group. At the show, Shelby says Joe Letz, a member of the Rammstein side project Lindemann, escorted her and a group of women to “Row 0.” Letz then invited Shelby and others to a pre-party where they were required to leave their phones on the table and alcoholic drinks were provided by the band.
After Shelby ingested two drinks at the pre-party, Letz told her that Lindemann would like to meet her under the stage during the concert’s DJ interlude. When she asked if this was a “sex thing,” Letz allegedly replied that it wasn’t and Lindemann was a “perfect gentleman.” Shelby says Lindemann made an appearance at the pre-party, took shots of tequila with some of the women there, smashed the glasses, and left.
Shelby says she did not have any more drinks but felt extremely intoxicated for the rest of the night. She remembers being led to meet Lindemann around 8PM. Per Shelby, she told Lindemann she didn’t want to have sex with him, he had an angry outburst in response, and then he left. She specifies that she is not accusing him of rape.
Shelby returned to Row 0 after this and has vague memories of attending an afterparty, then vomiting in the bathroom and returning to her hotel room. Her Twitter account is full of posts about the incident, including photos and videos of herself at the party, screenshots of texts with other women who attended the event, and photos of bruises on her body.
On May 28, Rammstein posted a statement about the allegations in both German and English. The band writes that they are not aware of any police investigations into the matter and “we can rule out the possibility that what is being claimed took place in our environment.” Here’s the full statement:
With regard to the allegations circulating on the internet about Vilnius, we can rule out the possibility that what is being claimed took place in our environment.
We are not aware of any official investigations into this matter.
In a video posted on Twitter on May 29, Shelby claims that she “begged” local police to investigate her claims, but they refused.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, call the 24-hour National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (1-800-656-4673), or visit Rainn.org.