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Music

Depeche Mode Denounce Richard Spencer's Claim They are the “Official Band of the Alt-Right”

“That is a ridiculous statement.”
Photo courtesy of the artists

Depeche Mode have denounced any ties to the alt-right after the leader of the nationalist movement, Richard Spencer, said the iconic band were the "official band of the alt-right."

Spencer's claim was tweeted earlier by New York Magazine correspondent Olivia Nuzzi, who was reporting from the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC. Depeche Mode told Pitchfork through a representative: "That is a ridiculous statement. Depeche Mode has no ties to Richard Spencer or the alt-right and does not support the alt-right movement."

Spencer hit Twitter himself to clarify, writing, "I was joking obviously. I'm a lifelong Depeche Mode fan," and replying to another user, "Of course DM isn't connected to me. Are you going to take every joke I crack literally?"

Spencer has previously made his love of the band well known. Speaking with THUMP last month about the rise of "Trumpwave" and "fashwave"—the far-right's appropriation of vaporwave—he named them and New Order as his favorite bands.