Backstage at Rammstein

A recruitment system has apparently provided Rammstein singer Lindemann with young women for years. For the first time, people from his environment speak out NDR-Reporters on allegations of abuse of power.

Almost ten months after the first publications about allegations against Till Lindemann, several companions and people close to the musician provide detailed insight into the Rammstein singer’s “casting system”. One of these people is Anna Yakina, a Russian music manager. For years she was on tour with world stars, backstage at Rammstein and on a concert tour in Russia with Till Lindemann and his solo project.

Everyone knew and could see how young women were brought in for Lindemann every evening, says Yakina. She tried to understand why everyone was silent. Although nine out of ten women knew where they were going, one in ten didn’t. Sometimes she got the impression that it was like a cult: “Everything is believed in the cult guru and his instructions are followed. For me it’s like trafficking in women – if you have another word for it, tell me.”

Suddenly led under the stage

One of the women who was apparently cast for sex lives in the north of Ireland, in a small town near the cliffs. Shelby Lynn, a loyal Rammstein fan for years, works for her local municipality as a social worker. After the now 25-year-old was apparently recruited for sex with Lindemann at a concert in Vilnius, Lithuania in the summer of 2023, she started the discussion about the band Rammstein with a series of tweets.

“There was an initiation for sex” that she had no idea about, is how Lynn describes the evening. During a break in the concert, she was suddenly led under the stage into a room to meet Lindemann. She refused to have sex with him. Later she had the feeling that she had been drugged. She cannot substantiate this accusation.

Shortly after the allegations became known, the band went public with a statement and said: “With regard to the allegations circulating on the Internet about Vilnius, we can rule out that what is alleged happened in our environment. (…).”

Sex casting system

The NDRIn recent months, reporters have spoken to around twenty women who were apparently recruited for Rammstein and Lindemann concerts. The process was probably similar in different cities across Europe.

For the first time, several of them speak openly in front of the camera ARD-Politics magazine panorama about their experiences. The Brazilian Monique T., for example, remembers an after-show party in Rotterdam with Lindemann. After a while the mood there changed: “He stood up, stuck his head through the door and shouted down the hall: ‘Bring the women, bring more women, bring the women.'” He then came back angry because apparently there were none were brought to other women.

Waiting for Lindemann

Lindemann apparently had a network of trusted people around him to recruit the women. The Russian Alena Makeeva was considered the central figure. To this day, she calls herself a “casting director” and, according to research, was the main contact person for female fans. Anna Yakina also experienced Makeeva and knew that in the run-up to concerts she recruited girls for the so-called “Row Zero” between the stage and the other fans, as well as for pre- and after-show parties, says Yakina.

Once Makeeva told her that she wanted to choose a few girls and bring them to Lindemann’s hotel room while he was on stage. The girls were then supposed to wait for Lindemann in complete darkness and give him a blowjob when he arrived in the room. It cannot be proven whether this exactly happened. Yakina emphasizes: “The girls are served to him as if on a plate.” Makeeva, Rammstein and other people who are said to have initiated contacts with women did not respond to inquiries.

“Abusing girls’ real feelings”

Elnara Nuriieva also finds this recruitment system very questionable today. She was a big Rammstein fan herself for a long time and met Makeeva during a Lindemann video shoot. Makeeva later asked her to help her cast women for the after-show party at a concert. Today she regrets having done that back then, said Nuriieva. She knows women who really want to meet Lindemann. But there were also those who didn’t know what they were getting into. “This is abuse. Abuse of the real feelings of girls who want to see their idol.”

Last year had NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that women should have sent photos of themselves in advance of concerts. Or photos and videos were taken on site. It is not proven whether the photos were subsequently presented to Lindemann. One woman described that it had been clearly communicated to her that she could only go to the concert and the party if she was interested in having sexual intercourse with Lindemann. At that time, several of these women had sworn their stories.

Aftershow passes requested

Peter Lubrich was already inviting groupies to after-show parties in the 2000s. At that time he was Rammstein’s security officer. There is a kind of code of honor in the security business, says Lubrich: You don’t talk about what you see. But groupies have always existed. The saying “Sex, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll” has a long tradition. Back then, he also approached women, handed out backstage passes and asked: “Would you like to drink wine or beer with the band again this evening?”

Many would have wanted after-show passes: “It’s like walking with a sausage through a bunch of dogs who haven’t eaten anything for three days,” says Lubrich. Basically, no different laws apply backstage than in normal life.

From his point of view, the encounters were always amicable. Lindemann’s lawyer Simon Bergmann also said this when asked by reporters. He emphasizes that sexual acts on the sidelines of concerts are always consensual and that none of the women were impaired in their ability to form their own will. One could of course discuss this recruitment system morally and raise the finger, said Bergmann: “I too now say quite openly, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t welcome it.”

Women make accusations of this abuse of power

Two women reported alleged sexual assaults on the sidelines of concerts last year. NDR and SZ made these allegations public at the time. The women had not said no to sexual acts with Lindemann, nor had they defended themselves during them, but subsequently found them to be invasive. Today they see the situation as an abuse of power. At the time, Lindemann said that everything had been amicable.

Last summer, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office initiated an investigation against Lindemann and Makeeva on suspicion of committing sexual offenses and violations of the Narcotics Act. The proceedings were discontinued after a good two months, also because no people suspected of being affected had contacted the public prosecutor’s office.

To this day, Lindemann is legally defending herself against Shelby Lynn’s statements and the media reporting, including the NDR – partly with success. Many decisions are not legally binding. Rammstein is going on a European tour again in mid-May. Most concerts are already sold out.

We continue to research the topic. For tips and advice you can reach this Investigation department of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk at [email protected]. You can watch a television report on this in the ARD media library and watch it on the Panorama program on Erste from 9:45 p.m.