Winston Marshall On How 'Internet Mobs' Attacked Mumford & Sons After Tweet

Last week, Winston Marshall announced he was permanently leaving Mumford & Sons after receiving backlash for praising right-wing journalist Andy Ngo's controversial book,Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan To Destroy Democracy in a since-deleted tweet. The banjoist explained his decision in a lengthy essay published to Medium, and on Tuesday (June 29) detailed the impact it had on his bandmates during an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today show (via NME).

During the conversation, Marshall described the band getting attacked by "internet mobs" because of his words — something he felt awful about.

“What was sort of unpleasant about it is that they went for my bandmates, they went for my friends, and that’s not fair on them because it’s got nothing to do with them,” he explained. “But in the public eye we were a unit and that’s, I suppose, what these internet mobs do. They go for all those people around you and that’s, I think, what was so troubling for me about the experience, was to see my friends getting dragged under the bus with me, which is not fair on them.”

Despite it all, Marshall said his bandmates were “so sweet and stood by me and invited me to continue."

“They’ve been perfectly honourable throughout and I’m very grateful for that,” he added. “I still, sort of, obviously regret that this situation even came about and, with hindsight, it was a foolish tweet to have made.”

When Marshall announced his departure from the band, Mumford & Sons shared a sweet Instagram post wishing him the best, which you can see here.