Hellfest, the gigantic French rock festival, is happening in June, and it’s set to feature headliners KISS, Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, and Slipknot. It’ll also have controversial performers like the Pantera reunion and Johnny Depp’s band Hollywood Vampires. The fest will not, however, feature the great French post-hardcore band Birds In Row, who returned last year with their album Gris Klein. Birds In Row were scheduled to play the festival’s fourth stage on its first night, but they’ve now pulled out, citing “recent allegations of sexual harassment within the festival staff.”

There’s very little information online about harassment allegations within Hellfest staff, but Birds In Row, being from France, must be more plugged in with those conversations. In an Instagram statement, Birds In Row write:

We will not play Hellfest.

For the last couple of years, the position of the festival on issues such as the MusicToo movement or the place of extreme right-wing ideologies in our scenes hasn’t been clear enough. We thought that our place was on stage, to spread the word and try to convince a crowd we wouldn’t reach outside of this festival, that these issues needed to be addressed.

Now, with the recent allegations of sexual harassment within the festival staff, it is hard for us to candidly keep thinking that change will come that way. We realize the best way for us to express our discontent is to leave.

We maintain our support to all the victims who decide to talk, facing the violences of a world which doesn’t want the change it requires. Sorry if we disappoint anyone, in any ways, we try to to disappoint ourselves as well with the choices we make.