Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry Discusses Internet Trolls on Channel 4

After Chvrches‘ “Leave a Trace” video was met with misogynistic comments, Lauren Mayberry responded on Twitter: “Dear anyone who thinks misogyny isn’t real. It is and this is what it looks like.” Today, she sat down with Cathy Newman for an interview on Channel 4 News to discuss internet trolls.

She said that while Chvrches attract hateful comments from trolls because they’re in the public eye, “this happens to women all the time anyway, and I hate the idea that young girls who follow our band deal with stuff like that. I don’t want them to feel isolated, I don’t want them to feel like it is just happening to them, because it happens everywhere.”

Mayberry also discussed the psychological toll hateful comments have taken on her. She also relayed some recent experiences:

“Somebody tweeted me the other day, ‘If you can’t learn to deal with this sort of shit, stick a gun in your mouth before the record even comes out. I have one and I’ll give it to you.’ Personally, that’s horrifying, if somebody put that through your door, you would go to the police with that.”

She conceded that it’s “scary, the idea of lawmakers coming in and sifting through comments and deciding what’s acceptable and what isn’t, and it’s unrealistic to expect companies to do that.” Instead, she argues that there needs to be “a shift in the cultural approach to women, and that will take time.” 

Here’s the interview:

Comments are closed.