DELAIN bassist Otto Schimmelpenninck responds to sexual harassment accusations towards former USA/Canada agent John Finberg
Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oye of Dutch symphonic metallers DELAIN has responded to the article published on Metalsucks about their former US and Canada agent John Finberg. The bassist took to Facebook to react in a lengthy statement, in which he said he was not surprised that Finberg is accused of sexual harassment, bullying and threats.
He said:
“For those who missed it: last Monday the website metalsucks.net published an extensive article about Delain’s former USA/Canada agent John Finberg, describing sexual harassment, bullying and threats. A lot has happened since then, and I feel myself left with a slightly uncomfortable feeling about this. So I’d like to share some thoughts with you, and I would like to stress that these are strictly personal, and have nothing to do with Delain.
First and foremost: sexual harassment, racism, bullying and threatening people should have no place in the metal scene, or anywhere in the world, for that matter. I’m very glad the MeToo and BlackLivesMatter movements have triggered much more awareness recently, although we still have a long way to go.
The darker side to this is, that it is very easy to publicly smear people. When we read about racism or sexual harassment we tend to get emotional about it very quickly, so all you need to do is accuse someone, and you can be sure that person will have a damaged reputation.
I don’t think Metalsucks.net asked Jon Finberg to react to these accusations (it’s not in their article at least). Given the quick response on social media by most bands, it’s unlikely they asked him to react either. In this particular case, I’m not surprised: that is because nobody is surprised. Although I’m sure many people working with him were not aware of the extend of his bigotry and misconduct, everyone working with him knew at least to some extend that he was mean, bullying, and sexist. I literally heard one of his big clients say: ‘he is a pig, but he does his job well’. Given the number of people that spoke out about him in the Metalsucks.net article, and the number of people reacting on social media, it’s quite clear that a lot of people were aware of his behaviour, some of them even ‘partners in crime’. I think it’s comparable to the Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein cases. And this is where I get uncomfortable. Although the story is no doubt more complicated, by the looks of it everyone seemed to be ‘ok with it’ as long as he did his job. But now that there is bad press, it is time to let him go and move on. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy people are drawing the line and saying ‘this is not acceptable’. I don’t want to accuse anyone of being a hypocrite. I think we should just all take a deep breath and look in the mirror. It IS not acceptable. But it wasn’t acceptable before Metalsucks.net published their article. My admiration goes out to the promotors and bands that just refused to work with him because of his behaviour, even if that hurt their careers and businesses. So I guess I’ve come to the point where I should come to a conclusion, or provide a solution, but I’m afraid I don’t have one. We’d be delusional if we think John Finberg dethroned means the end of sexual harassment, racism and bullying in the metal scene. I for one will try harder not to accept this kind of behaviour and call people out on it. I’ve alway thought of the metal scene as a wonderful scene with fantastic people, lots of love, and usually an inclusive character, where we share our passion for music regardless of color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, political views and so on. Let’s fight to make it even better.
Be safe, stay healthy, and lots of love to you all!“
Besides Schimmelpenninck, official statements have been given by Epica, Hammerfall, Angra have expressed solidarity with the victims and broke all bonds with Finberg.
