Mumford & Sons member quits band after endorsing right-wing book. ‘Leave with love’

Mumford & Sons guitarist Winston Marshall is saying goodbye to the popular folk-rock band.

Marshall announced his exit on Thursday, calling it “a difficult decision,” the Belfast Telegraph reported. It comes months after the banjo player faced an onslaught of social media criticism after tweeting his support for a controversial book by author and conservative commentator Andy Ngo titled, “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan To Destroy Democracy.”

Marshall apologized and said he would take some time away from the group. He made his exit official on Thursday.

“For me to speak about what I’ve learnt to be such a controversial issue will inevitably bring my bandmates more trouble,” he wrote in a piece for Meduim. “My love, loyalty and accountability to them cannot permit that ... The only way forward for me is to leave the band.”

The 33-year-old guitarist and band co-founder lamented the backlash he faced, likening the vitriol to a “hornet’s nest that I had unwittingly hit.” His support for Ngo’s book, he said, fueled false accusations that his political beliefs aligned with the far right, which “could[n’t] be further from the truth,” Marshall wrote.

“I hope in distancing myself from them (the band) I am able to speak my mind without them suffering the consequences,” he added. “I leave with love in my heart and I wish those three boys nothing but the best.”

News of Marshall’s exit spurred a flurry of reactions from fans on social media.

“Cancel culture is (expletive) ridiculous,” a fan wrote on Twitter. “Y’all really bullied a man into quitting a band just because he read a book.”

Marshall said he looks forward to working on new creative projects and raising his voice for different causes and issues.

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