Nightwish manager Ewo Pohjola investigated for assault

[Fugazi]

I'm late on the news, but just found out that manager Pohjola is being investigated for assault on at least one woman during an industry event in Tampere last October.

He's still listed as part of Till Dawn They Count Ltd, the NW management team, on the Nightwish website.

 

Police investigate: Nightwish manager Ewo Pohjola is suspected of strangling a woman at the bar counter - Pohjola denies

https://yle.fi/a/74-20056030

(translation: https://yle-fi.translate.goog/a/74-20056030?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp)

Mari Jäntti, 27 Feb 2024

 

According to Yle's information, the police are investigating Ewo Pohjola, the manager of the Nightwish band, for mild assault.

The case under investigation is suspected to have happened at the Music x Media event organized in Tampere last October.

Yle tells about it because Pohjola is in a significant position in the music industry.

According to the person concerned interviewed by Yle, the suspected mild assault had sexual characteristics. A woman under the age of 30 tells Yle that Pohjola, who was previously unknown to her, came to her at the bar with another man.

- They praised me as beautiful. Pohjola was visibly drunk.

Pohjola left the counter and the woman stayed at the counter talking with another man, when she suddenly felt a tight stranglehold on her neck.

- Pohjola strangled me. The situation lasted a few seconds. After that, Pohjola said that it felt exciting.

The woman felt confused and strange about the situation.

- What happened seems particularly outrageous in the context of an opportunity for networking in the music industry: older, experienced and powerful people meet young and novice artists.

She filed a criminal complaint with the Internal Finland Police. Yle has seen the criminal report.

The police have confirmed to Yle that a criminal complaint has been filed in connection with the incident at the Music x Media event under the heading of minor assault. The police will not confirm the suspect's identity.

Another 30-year-old woman interviewed by Yle says she also experienced a similar situation. She did not file a criminal complaint.

She said that she had gone to order a drink at the counter, when Pohjola, who was also unknown to her, had pulled the woman close to him using his strength. The situation passed quickly and the woman thought that there would be no further disturbance from the person.

- I was confused by the situation, but I let it be. Soon, however, I felt someone grab me from behind by the hair and pull me closer again.

The woman says that she has asked Pohjola several times to let her go. The woman tried to get out of the situation and says that she finally managed to get hold of Pohjola.

The woman asked that Pohjola be removed from the event, and this soon happened.

- Pulling my hair was too much. It wasn't a subtle touch, the woman says.

 

Pohjola: "There is no smell"

Ewo Pohjola denies the claims of both women.

- I have no idea about the whole thing.

Pohjola says that he does not know that a criminal complaint has been filed against him. The police have not heard from him about it.

Pohjola says that he was at the Music x Media event organized last October.

- I've been there and that's what makes this strange. I, and no one from our company, has any idea about this. Special.

Pohjola has worked as Nightwish's manager since the beginning of the 2000s.

Pohjola runs Till Dawn They Count Management Ltd together with Nightwish's other manager Toni Peiju. The company's business is program offices and management services.

In 2016, Music Finland awarded the company a national music export award. Pohjolaa and Peiju have been titled as pioneers of Finnish management and music export .

 

Event organizer: "There has been inappropriate behavior"

Both of the women say that they reported the incident to the harassment contact person at the Music x Media event.

Music x Media CEO Jani Jalonen confirms that there has been inappropriate behavior at the event.

- We are aware that, unfortunately, there has been inappropriate behavior at our event. We cannot comment on the details.

Jalonen says that harassment is taken very seriously at the event, and inappropriate treatment of any kind is not accepted.

- Every participant in our event is required to commit to the event's values and respect others. We have a process for potential harassment situations, according to which we act, says Jalonen.

[Moondance]

I will say this: I was very surprised to find this out about Ewo.

When I met him back in March 2018 at the Toronto show during the Decades tour, me and him spoke for a bit and he even gave me one of Emppu's guitar picks. That's pretty much all that I can remember from meeting him.

[Fugazi]

There are a lot of shady men gravitating around music bands, but I will do my best not to judge Ewo before he's proven guilty of anything.

I will say though that I hope we don't find out down the road that Tuomas was aware of this sort of behaviour and kept the man in his entourage.