If you’ve followed Arcade Fire at all, you may know Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct in 2022, right after the release of their sixth studio album, WE.
The story broke at Pitchfork.com, a music review site that, like Arcade Fire, once held sway in the alternative music scene but is now a decade or more past its cultural moment.
Because of course we have to be reminded of some agency’s definition of sexual assault in the middle of a news article, so that we all begin questioning whether all our past sexual encounters could be construed as rape.
Better to just stop having sex altogether, don’t you think?
I mean, what if I kiss a girl and she charges me with sexual assault because I didn’t ask her first?
What if my boyfriend made advances when I wasn’t in the mood—does that make him a sexual predator?
OMG!
The fact is, four women and one gender-fluid “they” supposedly told some online music site Butler had assaulted them, but none ever pressed charges, nor did Butler sue them for libel.
The first “victim” to come out posted about it on…Instagram.
The second “victim” to come out posted on…Reddit.
Really?
None of it makes sense, especially Butler coming out and admitting to all the relationships and volunteering 65 screenshots of text messages to Pitchfork.
In fact, Pitchfork told Butler of the allegations and included his response in the initial exposé, which seems a bit too tidy, doesn’t it?
By the time the article was published, Butler had already hired a crisis PR agency to craft a response, which was included in the article.
His PR agent was Risa Heller, who was formerly Communications Director for New York Governor David Paterson and Senator Chuck Schumer.
She was also a Senior VP at Global Strategy Group, one of the largest Democratic polling firms in the U.S.
You will say the women didn’t press charges because they have no proof; it’s just their word against his.
Except that they claim to have hundreds of text messages, including explicit photos and videos that Butler sent them.
At the very least they could claim sexual harassment.
But what’s more curious is that Butler isn’t suing for libel.
If there really is no evidence against him, it would be a slam-dunk case—especially given that he has likely lost millions of dollars due to their accusations.
The Pitchfork article was published the first day of their WE tour; their opening act, Feist, subsequently quit the tour, and attendance plummeted.
Their latest album, Pink Elephant, dropped a few weeks ago and conspicuously failed to reach the Billboard 200.
Instead, we see the opposite, with the Quebec Liberal Party Leader Dominique Anglade urging the victims to press charges.
Anglade in 2020
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View full-sizeDownload Dominique Anglade (born January 31, 1974) is a Canadian engineer, businesswoman and former politician who served as the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party and leader of the Opposition of Quebec from May 11, 2020 to December 1, 2022. It gets even weirder, since Anglade is a childhood friend of Butler’s wife, Régine Chassagne.
Chassagne performing with Arcade Fire in 2024
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View full-sizeDownload Régine Alexandra Chassagne (French pronunciation: [ʁeʒin ʃasaɲ]; born 19 August 1976) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist, and is a member of the band Arcade Fire. She is married to co-founder Win Butler.
Together they founded Kanpe Foundation, which supposedly helps rural populations in Haiti.
(More on that further down.)
It's starting to remind me of the fake Tiger Woods brouhaha.
They’re too addicted to the limelight to give it up, so they’re willing to get it in other ways.
All publicity is good publicity to these people.
My guess is that Butler and Chassagne were paid a pretty penny to participate in this project, maybe more than they would have made in record and ticket sales even if they hadn’t been canceled.
This explains not only the lack of any legal action but also Chassagne’s stolid devotion to her husband throughout this debacle.
It’s pretty damn hard for a marriage to bounce back from such a public disgracing, much less to continue writing creatively together and even produce an album like Pink Elephant that is full of unabashed love songs like “I Love Her Shadow” and “Circle of Trust”.
In fact, the lyrics in their latest album seem to tell a completely opposite story to the mainstream one, with Butler coming across as the hopelessly devoted romantic who is jealous watching his wife dance with other men.
It’s as if Pink Elephant is their subtle declaration that the whole sex scandal was just a project, and they’re hoping that their hardcore fans will get it and stick with them.
They want to have their cake and eat it, too.
And it's sort of working, since despite being “canceled” they:
Lanois on pedal steel guitar
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View full-sizeDownload Daniel Roland LanoisCM (/lænˈwɑː/lan-WAH, French: [lanwa]; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer and musician (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, U2).
What straight man would fantasize about being an actress?
It sounds like a love song more to Bowie than to his wife.
I don’t get the sense that Chassagne is just his beard, but I do wonder if there was some kind of catamite thing going on between Butler and Bowie, or even a throuple situation.
I leave that all as tentative for now, and I genuinely wish the best for Butler and Chassagne’s marriage, whatever may or may not have happened.
If they ever read this, I plead with them not to get tangled up in these sorts of projects.
That’s not the path to a clean conscience, and it will only corrupt your art as it corrupts your soul.
I might as well hit Butler’s genealogy.
His grandfather was Alvino Rey, a noted jazz guitarist and bandleader.
Rey in c.1942
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View full-sizeDownload Alvin McBurney (July 1, 1908 – February 24, 2004), known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American jazz guitarist and bandleader. We learn something interesting about Rey in Wikipedia:
In 1935, Gibson hired him to develop a prototype pickup with engineers at the Lyon & Healy company in Chicago, based on the one he developed for his banjo.
The result was used for Gibson's first electric guitar ES-150.
In other words, Win Butler’s grandfather basically invented the electric guitar.
If you still think rock’n’roll celebrities can ever come from obscurity—even lesser-known indie artists like Arcade Fire—let this be another nail in that coffin.
Rey married one of The King Sisters, a big band group with their own TV show.
They came from the Driggs family, a notorious Mormon business family that has produced:
And yes, Win Butler was raised as a Mormon, which we all know was an intelligence project.
His direct ancestor Parley Parker Prattwas one of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which makes Butler and Mitt Romney third cousins once removed.
Her line ends with her father and mother, but it’s enough to confirm our suspicions.
We can take these Spencers back to Gerard, which Findagrave admits even as it tries to deny that he was from the “preeminent aristocrat” Spencer family.
Portrait by unknown artist in late 16th century, National Portrait Gallery
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View full-sizeDownload Catherine Parr (c. July or August 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until Henry's death on 28 January 1547. Catherine was the final queen consort of the House of Tudor, and outlived Henry by a year and eight months. With four husbands, she is the most-married English queen consort. She was the first woman to publish in print an original work under her own name in England in the English language. The Greens come from Alfred the Great.
Silver penny of Alfred, struck c. 875–880. Legend: elfre d rex
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View full-sizeDownload Alfred the Great (Old English: Ælfrǣd[ˈæɫvˌræːd]; c. 849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfred was young. Three of Alfred's brothers, Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred, reigned in turn before him. Under Alfred's rule, considerable administrative and military reforms were introduced, prompting lasting change in England.
The Dickinson line takes us to:
Greene (again)
Aires (Ayers)
Hurst
Hooker
Fox
Fogge
Barlow
Stafford
Cromwell
d’Aubigny
de Ferrers (again)
and Montgomery, to name a few.
The Fogge links us again to Sir Thomas Green, whose wife was Joan Fogge.
Memorial brass of Joan Fogge at St. Bartholomew's Church, Greens Norton.
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View full-sizeDownload Joan (or Jane) Fogge, Lady Green (c.1469 – c.1490/94 bef. 1506) was an English noblewoman. She was the mother of Maud Green, and therefore the maternal grandmother of Katherine Parr the sixth wife of King Henry VIII of England.
We hit a dead-end at Martin d’Acigne, but we can flip over to FabPedigree.com and find Martin’s direct descent from:
image.png
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View full-sizeDownload ColonelSir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, FRS (26 March 1753 – 21 August 1814), was an American-born British military officer, scientist and inventor. Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, he supported the Loyalist cause during the American War of Independence, commanding the King's American Dragoons during the conflict. After the war ended in 1783, Thompson moved to London, where he was recognised for his administrative talents and received a knighthood from George III in 1784. A prolific scientist and inventor, Thompson also created several new warship designs. He subsequently moved to the Electorate of Bavaria and entered into the employ of the Bavarian government, heavily reorganising the Bavarian Army. Thompson was rewarded for his efforts by being made an Imperial Count in 1792 before dying in Paris in 1814.
He was a lover of George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, although he was married.
Portrait of Lord George Germain by George Romney, 1766
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View full-sizeDownload Major generalGeorge Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, PC (26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785) was a British Army officer, politician, and peer who served as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1775 to 1782. Serving in the North ministry during the American War of Independence, he received significant blame for Britain's defeat in the conflict; Sackville's issuance of confusing instructions to British commanders in North America coupled with his failure to understand either the geography of Britain's American colonies or the determination of the rebels' resolve have led historians to support such arguments. Sackville served in the British army in the War of the Austrian Succession and in Seven Years' War, including at the decisive Battle of Minden, after which he was court-martialled. His political career ended with the fall of the North ministry in March 1782. Through his ancestor Lydia Raguet Farnham, Butler is also related to Condy Raguet, the first U.S. Ambassador to Brazil.
His grandfather’s obituary shows he was a Harvard graduate and one of the governor’s appointees to the Acadia National Park Advisory Committee, suggesting some influential connections.
It also mentions Butler’s great-grandfather Arthur Pierce Butler, who happens to have his own Wikipedia page, which mysteriously doesn’t mention his connection to Win or give much indication of why he deserves his own Wikipedia page.
It feels like these are important Butlers who don’t want you to know they’re important.
But let’s consider Win’s full name:
Edwin Farnham Butler III.
Do you remember any connection between the names Farnham and Butler in a previous Miles paper?
Go back to the paper on Smedley Butler, the Marine Corps officer who played a leading role in the bogus “Business Plot” and who also played a part in the U.S. occupation of Haiti.
It was also in Haiti that Butler gained an intimate understanding of the private financial powers involved in the occupation of a country.
The prime example was the relationship formed between Butler and a powerful capitalist by the name of Robert Farnham.
Farnham was both vice president of the National City Bank, president of the National Haitian Railway Company...and he was in close contact with the U.S. State Department.
Farnham was such a prominent figure in Haiti that one historian described him as the:
“spokesman for the American financial interests in Haiti…”
Farnham and Butler…hmm, just a coincidence?
Is it also a coincidence that Win Butler married a woman whose family was from Haiti?
Remember, Butler and his wife started the Kanpe Foundation specifically to help Haitians.
Knowing what you now know about Win’s ancestry, it should strike you as highly suspicious that a Farnham Butler is involved in charity work in Haiti.
The original Farnham and Butler of Haiti were two of the leading figures of America’s occupation of Haiti, one representing its economic, and the other its political, interests.
They now admit that National City Bank of New York was singlehandedly responsible for the U.S. deciding to occupy Haiti.
As Vice President of the bank, Farnham was one of the chief villains in this plot.
Perhaps this is why they’ve scrubbed Win’s Farnham and Butler lines; they’re hiding a close family connection to both of these men who helped ruin Haiti.
But then why would Chassagne, whose family members were brutally murdered in the Jérémie Vespers massacre of 1964 for trying to overthrow the Haitian dictator “Papa Doc” Duvalier, marry a Farnham Butler?
The problem with that story is that the Chassagnes weren’t just random Haitian immigrants the CIA found in the U.S. and radicalized.
Roland’s own father, Albert Chassagne, was the campaign manager for Louis Dejoie, who ran against Duvalier in 1957, which means they were politically well-connected before the coup.
Déjoie in 1957
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View full-sizeDownload Pierre Joseph Louis Déjoie (23 February 1896 – 11 July 1969, Port-au-Prince, Haiti) was a wealthy Haitian sugar planter, industrialist, agricultural engineer, landowner and politician. The other problem is that JFK’s assassination wouldn’t have changed the CIA’s plans, since the CIA was in charge of JFK, not the other way around.
Régine’s paternal grandmother was Nancy Turnbull, daughter of Arthur Francis Parkinson Turnbull and Berthe/Bertha Velten.
Arthur was born in Montgomeryshire, Wales, to English-born parents William Turnbull and Nancy Parkinson.
Arthur was a noted Methodist missionary in Haiti, and we learn here that:
as a dominant figure in Haiti he showed great energy and thoroughness, not only in the work of the Mission, but in representing the interests of British traders there and of the American Army during its occupation of the country.
In other words, he was another cloaked agent of the banking interests that infiltrated and wrecked the country.
A search on the surname Diedone brings up Dieudonné, French for “gift of God”.
It was the surname adopted by Henri, Count of Chambord and Duke of Bordeaux, also known as King Henry V, pretender to the French throne in the mid-1800s.
But it’s worth noting the music video for “Reflektor”, the song that features Bowie.
The video is chock full of mirrors, from an eerie floating disco ball to a man in a cowboy hat completely covered in mirrors, to a coffin covered in mirrors and filled with baby dolls.
“Trapped in a prism, in a prism of light / Alone in the darkness, darkness of white.”
In French Régine sings:
“Between the night, the night and the dawn / Between the realm of the living and the dead.”
Later, Win sings:
“Just a reflection, of a reflection, of a reflection, of a reflection, of a reflection / Will I see you on the other side? / We all got things to hide.”
The inspiration for the song was Kierkegaard’s Two Ages, a comparison between the revolutionary age and what he identifies as the current age, which he calls the reflective age.
This age is marked by the:
total conformity
weakness
passivity
of the masses.
Kierkegaard writes:
Not until the single individual has established an ethical stance despite the whole world, not until then can there be any question of genuinely uniting…
We are now “trapped in a prism” of their making, so that every time we search for answers, they are standing there with their mirrors to misdirect us and herd us back into the flock.
The numerology of the album focuses on the number 9—the number is written on the back of a military truck in the music video, and the song itself was released on 9/9 at 9pm.
Some have tried (and failed) to decode the meaning.
