Mumford & Sons' lead guitarist Winston Marshall has permanently left the band following backlash over a tweet supporting a right-wing author. Marshall, 33, had taken a break in March after praising journalist Andy Ngo's book Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy, calling Ngo 'brave'.
In a blog post, Marshall said he regretted the distress caused to his bandmates and that he could 'remain and continue to self-censor, but it will erode my sense of integrity'. He blamed a 'viral mob' for his decision, adding that he failed to foresee his comment could be interpreted as approval of the far-right.
Marshall, whose family lost 13 members in the Holocaust, said his political views are 'centrist' to 'liberal' and that being labelled right-wing is 'libellous'. He noted that much of the backlash was aimed at frontman Marcus Mumford, whose name 'was being dragged through some pretty ugly accusations'.
The band, formed in London in 2007, has released four albums, two of which topped charts in both the UK and US. Marshall said his bandmates asked him to stay, but after stepping back, 'another viral mob came after me, this time for the sin of apologising'.
