Till Lindemann Sues News Outlet for Potential Forgery + Fraud in Coverage of Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann is fighting back against one news outlet that reported on the sexual misconduct allegations that were levied against him last year.

According to a press release issued this past Friday (Aug. 2) by the singer's legal representation, Schertz Bergmann, the musician has filed a criminal complaint with Hamburg Public Prosecutor’s Office against executives at the German news outlet Der Spiegel. At issue is the media outlet's reporting of the story, which they feel included falsified documents and the attempt to commit trial fraud.

Per the claim, "In the injunction proceedings, SPIEGEL submitted two affidavits in its rejoinder to the Regional Court from 28 June 2023, from women named ‘Zoe’ and ‘Sophie W.’ in the article. ‘Zoe’s’ affidavit had the peculiarity that it began on the penultimate page with a sentence that was not continued on the next page. This page contained solely the witness’s signature, so that it had to be assumed that individual pages of the affidavit had been removed or replaced (see our press release of 15 May 2024)."

“Although this irregularity had already been criticized at the hearing before the Regional Court on 25 August 2023, SPIEGEL did not respond thereto until a week before the hearing in the appeal proceedings and submitted two previously unknown affidavits. Thereby, SPIEGEL had to concede that the originally submitted affidavits were not from ‘Zoe’ and ‘Sophie W.’. Due to an oversight by its own legal counsel and its secretariat different versions had been mixed up during the submission of the affidavits, said SPIEGEL."

“The different versions of ‘Zoe’s’ affidavits differ significantly from each other, especially concerning her described recollection of the encounter with our client. In addition, in the proceedings, as well as accompanying the proceedings, SPIEGEL repeatedly defended its reporting with the argument that affidavits have a high degree of credibility due to the criminal penalty involved. In word-against-word cases, they should be sufficient to justify reporting on suspicion.

“In so far as it has now been established that two affidavits were not actually rendered as submitted, this is a matter that must be clarified by the criminal prosecution authorities. Our client will therefore file a criminal complaint with Hamburg Public Prosecutor’s Office against SPIEGEL executives for falsification of documents and attempted trial fraud.”

About the Initial Allegations

In May 2023, a female fan of the group made public in an online post her account that included an accusation that she had been drugged at a party before the band's performance in Lithuania. The author of the post later clarified that she was not sexually assaulted or abused, but she did maintain that she had been drugged at the party.

Despite the Lindemann and the band holding strong that no wrong-doing on their part had occurred, the singer was dropped by his publisher due to the allegations and the Berlin public prosecution office started an investigation into the alleged actions.

LIndemann's legal reps were also able to obtain a ban against Der Spiegel. By late August 2023, German officials had concluded and dropped their investigation into Lindemann.

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Rammstein's Most Recent Statement

Earlier this week, Rammstein issued what essentially is a tour wrap-up statement, though they did take the time to address the difficulties they faced over the course of the run.

At one point, the group stated (as translated to English), "Since last summer, we have been actively dealing with the accusations made against the band. We take this dispute very seriously, even if much of it is unfounded and excessively exaggerated. It is an inner process that will accompany us for a long time to come. Each of us does this in our own way and deals with it differently."

They continued, "We would like to take this opportunity to thank our families and loved ones in particular for their unrestricted support and love."