Depeche Mode wants it known they do not approve of the alt-right movement

Depeche Mode.
(Image credit: Vittorio Zumino Celotto/Getty Images/)

In addition to white people, Richard Spencer also loves the band Depeche Mode. Unfortunately for Spencer, the feelings are not mutual.

Spencer, the white nationalist and alt-right poster boy who became infamous during the presidential campaign as a supporter of Donald Trump, told a reporter at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday that Depeche Mode "is the official band of the alt-right." Later, Spencer told Rolling Stone he is a "lifelong Depeche Mode fan," though his "tongue was firmly in cheek" when he made his earlier statement. "They aren't a typical rock band, in terms of lyrics and much else," he said. "Depeche Mode is a band of existential angst, pain, sadism, horror, darkness, and much more." The group doesn't do "bubblegum pop," Spencer continued, and he claimed their album Music for the Masses has a "bit of a fascist element."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.