The band Mumford and Sons is in hot water due to a recent post that one of the band members made. On social media, many users are calling for Mumford and Sons to be canceled after Winston Marshall shared his praise for far-right personality Andy Ngo’s book Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy. Soon after Marshall posted a photo of the book, Mumford and Sons fans took to Twitter to voice their disappointment over his support for Ngo and the far-right movement.
On Saturday, Marshall praised Ngo for his book, sharing his “congratulations” directly to the author, whom he tagged in the now-deleted tweet. He wrote, alongside a photo of the book, “Finally had time to read your important book. You’re a brave man.” According to NME, Ngo is an American journalist who has gained popularity amongst those on the right for his reporting on left-wing groups. However, his work has been criticized as he has painted left-wing activists as violent, whereas he has not referenced right-wing groups in the same manner.
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Ngo has even associated himself with the far-right group the Proud Boys, which has been described as a neo-fascist and male-only white nationalist organization (the group was even designated by Canada as a terrorist organization in February, per USA Today). In Unmasked, Ngo refers to the Proud Boys as a “pro-Trump fraternity” and calls left-wing activists a “marauding gang” who want to “destroy the nation-state, America in particular.” Considering Ngo’s background and Marshall’s praise of his book, several Twitter users have spoken out on the matter and criticized Mumford and Sons as a result. Marshall has since received several responses to his original tweet, with many users taking him to task for his sympathizing with a far-right figure.
“This is so damn disappointing and really reinforces all the bad stereotypes about what it means when you hear ‘the sound of banjos.’ Supporting fascism ain’t a good look,” one user wrote. Another commented, “1) Do not congratulate 2) Not an important book 3) Ngo isn’t brave. He’s a well documented liar and propagandist. Get your head out of your a—.” Yet another user wrote, “‘banjo player from Mumford & Sons promotes pro-fascism book’ is a hell of a way to start my Sunday.” At the moment, Marshall has not yet addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding himself and his band.
