A woman who travelled to attend a Rammstein concert in Vilnius has accused the band of drugging and potentially raping her. Lithuanian police have confirmed they had been contacted, but said they had not launched an investigation.
An Irish fan who attended the concert said on Twitter she had been invited to a party with the band. In a series of posts that have been widely shared, she alleged she had been drugged during the party and potentially raped.
The woman, whose name on Twitter is Shelby Lynn, said that she had applied to attend the party and was asked to send her photo to a woman who does not work with the band officially.
At a pre-party with the band, “we were asked to put our phones on the table, they were not allowed in the room”, she wrote on Twitter. Lynn said she felt unusually intoxicated after only drinking several drinks that were handed to them, suspecting that the alcohol had been spiked with drugs.
“This was about 8pm. Shortly after this, Till leaves the room and then the show begins,” she wrote. “Everything up to that moment is so clear, and from about 8:30 my memory goes zap. I’m like a human zombie, singing, dancing, but also stumbling [and] tripping.”
Later, she was allegedly told that the band’s frontman, Till Lindemann, wanted to meet her, but she was assured he was not expecting to have sex. She was then allegedly taken underneath the stage by someone.
“I open this curtain and immediately my heart sinks with a dreaded feeling. This room could fit maybe 4 people in it, tiny like a changing room in a shop,” Lynn wrote. “I wait there for Till to arrive, he comes in and I immediately say: Till, if you’re here for sex I’m not doing that. Sex is very special for me, I don't sleep with strangers.”
The band leader then allegedly left the room, saying he had been promised that Lynn would have sex with him.
Later, Lynn said she attended an afterparty, where she allegedly heard stories about other female fans having sex with the band’s leader during concerts. After Lynn shared her story on Twitter, she was allegedly contacted by more women recalling similar incidents.
The next day, Lynn said she could not recall most of the night and noticed bruises on her body.
Meanwhile, a Lithuanian woman shared her testimony on TikTok, saying she had been invited by a band’s representative via social media to attend Rammstein’s party, but refused.
“I have A LOT of information from other girls. But until I confirm with them it’s okay to share their stories/images, I won’t be saying anything about their experiences,” wrote Lynn.
I’m the girl that was spiked at Rammstein. I am going to make a big post with all the photos/videos I have. Videos of me clearly off my head. Give me a an hour or so to get everything together nice and cohesive instead of just a random dump of photos/videos/info. #rammstein
— Shelby Lynn (@Shelbys69666) May 24, 2023
She also said police officers who responded to her call could not test whether she was drugged. Lynn said the Irish police were now investigating the incident.
However, according to Lithuanian police representatives, Lynn did not file a report.
“A call has been received that a hotel resident claims that during yesterday's Rammstein concert, someone slipped drugs into her drinks and tried to rape her,” the Lithuanian Police said on Monday.
“When the police arrived, medics were already at the hotel, examined the girl, and provided her with on-the-spot medical assistance,” the police said.
Lynn was now cooperating with law enforcement in clarifying the circumstances surrounding the incident, the Lithuanian Police added.
Operators of the emergency services' call centre also confirmed that the woman had contacted them a day after the concert on May 23.
“Her friend said that she needed an ambulance because she had been drinking, she was feeling unwell, and maybe [her drink] had been spiked. The medics went there [...], but they had no way of checking whether she had been drugged, so they [contacted] the police,” Vilma Juozevičiūtė, spokesperson of the emergency call centre, told LRT.lt.
Organisers 'not aware' of the incident
Aleksandras Karablikovas, head of the company that organised the concert, Live Nation Lietuva, said they had no information about the alleged incident.
“Only the police can say something, We have seen very professional work and it does not correspond to the images we have seen on social networks. None of us saw the incidents or the girl. The situation is not known to us,” he said.
However, Karablikovas acknowledged that many spaces were off-limits to the organisers and were reserved exclusively for the band members.
“There are quite a lot of areas where the organiser simply cannot enter,” he said.
Asked if during the concert there was a special “Row Zero” area for the girls selected for the parties, as alleged by people on social media, Karablikovas said he was not aware of it.
On Monday, Rammstein issued a statement on social media.
“With regard to the allegations circulating on the internet about Vilnius, we can rule out the possibility that what is being claimed took place in our environment,” the band tweeted. “We are not aware of any official investigations into this matter.”
The Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights also issued a statement on Monday, criticising the reaction of the medics and the police.
“The situation has raised many questions about the ability of the Lithuanian police and ambulance medics to respond appropriately to possible drug intoxication and possible sexual assault,” the centre said.
It now plans to turn to the parliament to examine whether Lithuania's institutions are adequately prepared to respond to such incidents.
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