Ten Walls returns to speak out almost a decade after homophobia accusations

13 March, 2024

Ten Walls

Almost 10 year since Ten Walls became embroiled in controversy and homophobia accusations, the music producer and DJ has returned to insist that his words were “misconstrued and mistranslated”.

In 2015, it was widely reported that the Lithuanian dance music DJ – real name Marijus Adomaitis – posted a homophobic outburst on his Facebook.

He was subsequently dropped from performing at a number of festivals including Creamfields, Pitch, Sónar. The musician was also criticised by the Lithuanian President who said his comments showed that the country had a widespread problem with “intolerance”.

In the original post, the ‘Walking With Elephants’ musician recalled a moment from his past when a fellow Lithuanian musician tried to convince him to be more tolerant. “When I asked him ‘What would you do if you realised that your 16-year-old son’s browny [anus] is ripped by his boyfriend?’ Well he was silent,” read the translated post.

He also made comments about “the good ’90s,” when “these people of different breed [were] fixed”.

A Google translation of the Lithuanian to English provided by press reads differently to the text reported on in 2015.

The post also appeared to connect homosexuality and pedophilia, writing: “One of my first gigs in Ireland, on my way to [my] hotel I saw a church with a fence decorated with hundreds of baby shoes.  Naturally I wondered why?  Unfortunately a priest’s lie for many years was uncovered when children were massively raped.  Unfortunately the people of other breed continue to do it and everyone knows it but does nothing.”

Ten Walls issued an apology in response, writing that the post was “wrong and completely out of character and the result was a badly written post that was unacceptable”.

In another apology, the producer wrote that he “deeply regrets” his comments, adding that he was “saddened by my own behaviour and the impact of my actions on others”.

Now, nine years later, the DJ has returned with a new social media video and interview telling “his side of the story”.

“I wanted to share the long waited and deserved truth,” he said in an Instagram video posted today (March 13), translated with English captions.

He continued that his 2015 post “related to pedophilia” was “taken out of context, mistranslated and interpretated [sic]”, and as a result he was “blamed to be homophobic”.

The musician insisted that he had “never been homophobic”, but after following PR guidance made public apologies which “made everything worse”.

He continued that the original post was referring to a specific video which had been quickly deleted, but featured the person he was referring to as a “different breed” and pedophile.

The original clip – which is included in his own response video – features a Russian actor on a TV show who responds “Yes” to the question: “Did you ever have sex with minors?”

He is also asked if he has ever walked around naked in front of his daughter, to which he also replied “Yes”, and admits to watching animal porn.

Ten Walls said that “because of this bad translation” of his original post and “taking my words out of context” it resulted in a “very different meaning” and “pain” to the LGBTQ community.

He added: “The whole post was about me questioning where is the line between pedophilia and what this Russian actor Alexey Panin was openly speaking about.

“That’s who I called ‘different breed’, this person.”

In an accompanying interview with Reverbs, Ten Walls stated: “I have never in my life discriminated against queer members, nor in the music industry or my life in general. I don’t actually discriminate against anyone for their race, or religion, or sexuality.”

Asked why he did not clarify his post sooner, he explained that “nobody cared to listen to my explanation or ask objective questions that could provide some space for my narrative in all the situations”. He added that his PR team’s advice was to not “explain or analyse the post”, which he “blindly” followed.

He insisted that he “never connected homosexual people to pedophiles or called different breeds”.

The DJ said he came across the TV clip on YouTube, and said the topic is “very sensitive” to him because his childhood friend was a victim of kidnapping and rape at the age of seven.

He continued that the backlash had a huge impact on his mental health, explaining: “All of this situation had massive impact on my mental health, it was so badly that for many months I couldn’t even speak with nobody or eat normally, I was in agony, and most of people who were around me, also working with me at the time – turned away and left me in this state and situation.”

However, Ten Walls clarified that he did not want to point fingers, adding that he believes “everyone has to take responsibility for their mistakes”, even if it was “not intended”.

Stepping back from the public eye also sparked concerns for him about cancel culture, sharing: “You cancel a person, which is not acceptable in the first place, but beyond that – you cancel someone’s work?? You cancel music? In what world are we living?”

“After almost 10 years since I made this post, I still haven’t gotten a second chance. How come?” he asked.

He also described cancel culture as a “brutal way of destroying not even just a person itself, but apparently also all intellectual property, that usually everyone would appreciate, but they can’t, because this cancel culture is stronger than even art”.

“I just feel ready to tell the full story and I truly trust that I will reach those who have to hear it,” he said.

You can read the interview in full here.

Ten Walls has continued to release music since the controversy pushed him out of the spotlight, and this year marks 10 years of ‘Walking With Elephants’. In 2015, he released a new track via the website of an LGBT group in his home country as an attempt to make amends for the comments, before releasing his debut album digitally in 2015.

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