Rammstein's Till Lindemann dropped by book publisher amid allegations

UPDATE: Rammstein issued a new statement after Till Lindemann dropped by Kiepenheuer & Witsch.

PREVIOUSLY:

Earlier this week, Rammstein released a statement denying allegations that vocalist Till Lindemann spiked a fan’s drink with drugs at a pre-party ahead of the band’s show in Vilnius. German outlet Tagesschau has now published a report with further allegations of sexual misconduct against Lindemann, including another woman who claimed to have been drugged; Tagesschau‘s report reads, “Lindemann was lying on her when she regained consciousness and asked her if he should stop. ‘And I didn’t even know what he wanted to stop doing.'”

The German edition of Metal Hammer also points out that publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch is parting ways with Lindemann. A translated press release from them reads:

It is with shock that we have followed public allegations against Till Lindemann in the last few days. Our sympathy and respect goes to the women affected.

In the course of current reporting, 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.

We defend the freedom of art with full conviction. Through Till Lindemann’s actions that humiliate women in the aforementioned porn and the targeted use of our book in a pornographic context, the separation between the “lyrical I” and the author/artist, which we so staunchly defended, is mocked by the author himself.

From our point of view, 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 with the author has been irretrievably broken.

In their statement denying the initial allegations, Rammstein wrote, “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.” They have not commented publicly on the Tagesschau article or Lindemann being dropped by Kiepenheuer & Witsch at this time.