Towa Bird
The vocalist faced potential prison time before case was dropped with apology condition
Phoebe Lunny of Lambrini Girls has spoken publicly about an incident in which she was arrested for sending emails to promoters flagging concerns about an unnamed male musician performing on their bills.
Speaking on the podcast A View From A Bridge, where guests talk into a red telephone while standing on a bridge, the punk vocalist detailed how a routine run was interrupted by a call from the police informing her of a harassment case filed against her.
"I was on a run, and I get a call from a blocked ID and it's the police, and they told me that I had a harassment case against me and that I had to come into the police station to be interviewed. So obviously, I didn't know what the fuck they were talking about, so I got in an Uber and when I got to the police station, they arrested me on the spot," Lunny recalled.
The arrest stemmed from a handful of emails she had sent to gig and festival organisers. "This happened because I took the liberty of emailing a handful of promoters, saying, 'Hey, I've just seen you've got this band on your bill, there's a guy in it, he's known to be really dodgy, if you want your gig to be a safe space for women, take him off the bill,'" she explained.
After the musician in question discovered her correspondence, he reported Lunny to the authorities. "I just got put in a cell, and I was just crying because I was so confused and obviously, I didn't even think that something like that could happen from sending a couple of emails," she said.
Though she faced a potential six-month prison sentence, the case was ultimately dropped on the condition that she write a letter of apology to the man involved. Lunny used the experience to highlight broader systemic failures affecting women.
"I think it's a really good example of is how even laws which are there in place to protect women can be exploited and used for a man's benefit," she noted. "And I think this is also part of the hugely misogynistic rhetoric which is used by the manosphere, and how they are constantly whining and victimising themselves about the system being stacked up against them, and it's women's fault.
"Which is bullshit, because the system is there to aid and to protect dangerous men, and what I think you see a lot, especially after that Louis Theroux documentary [Inside the Manosphere] came out, is guys online actively condemning this misogynistic viewpoint, which is amazing and we need that, but if they could put the same amount of passion into actually advocating for women, instead of being like, 'I'm not like him!' – what if you actually did something about it? Instead of just letting women be the ones who have to fucking deal with it."
She added, "It's 2026 and women are still having to scream at the top of their lungs. One out of three women have been sexually assaulted or will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes, and we're all focusing and centering the men still."
In a social media post published after the episode aired, Lunny wrote, "No individuals are named or intentionally identified. I do not want, nor am I encouraging others to find out names, that would [put] me in trouble. Please take my experience as a reflection of the systematic issues women face daily. Thank u for all the amazing messages of support xxxx."
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