Metal Anarchy

Birds In Row have officially dropped off of this year’s Hellfest in Clisson, France. The band made the move after a past intern accused the event’s organizers of sexual harassment and verbal abuse.

The intern in question says she was forced to dress in sexual clothing and that her boss would continuously humiliate and insult her. She told France Bleu the following:

“He called me his ‘sexy assistant’. He clearly told me that I had to make people ‘hard-on.’”

She also opened up about a separate situation involving a tutor at Hellfest Productions who seemingly wanted to hit her. The intern, who worked for the festival in 2017, is currently taking legal action against the company. She also claims that she waited to speak up because she was repressing what happened to her.

The woman’s attorney commented:

“Her wish by taking legal action is to make Hellfest Productions aware that there are actions that are not acceptable, which are illegal in the context of labor relations. She wants a conviction so that these practices- stop there, so that the mentalities within Hellfest Productions evolve.”

With this in mind, Birds In Row decided to pull out of the festival. The band issued the following statement:

“We will not play ‘Hellfest‘

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

[via The PRP]