The son of Linkin Park’s former singer, the late Chester Bennington, has stated that the band has betrayed their fans. The reason being, however, as told by Chester Bennington’s son is that they chose to replace his father with none other than Emily Armstrong.
The statement was made by his son, named Jamie Bennington, on Instagram. Specifically he shared as much on his Instagram account’s Story, noting that the band’s co-founder Mike Shinoda has “quietly erased my father’s life and legacy in real time… during international suicide prevention month.”
As noted by Variety, Bennington’s story had plenty to say regarding the band’s new singer Emily Armstrong, Shinoda’s decisions, and how the band itself has forever upset their fanbase. It’s worth noting that Chester Bennington, Jaime’s father and the original singer for Linkin Park, died in 2017 after committing suicide.
Jaime Bennington (son of Chester Bennington) denounces Emily Armstrong & Linkin Park pic.twitter.com/nqqJthUmrN
— Physical Media (@PhysicalMedia_) September 9, 2024
One of the reasons that Bennington was so upset by Emily Armstrong, however, is that Armstrong has ties with the Church of Scientology and even supported convicted rapist Danny Masterson, the former actor who was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison last year.
Following these statements, Bennington says he hasn’t heard from the band – and has gotten a lot of negative responses from fans.
“I haven’t heard anything back from the band themselves, which is not unexpected. They didn’t come to me with this announcement, they didn’t ask me how I felt.”
He added:
“There are a lot of people who do not like me. There are a lot of people saying some real awful sh– right now to me. To be honest, I don’t think I’d feel safe going to the show under general admission … I don’t know who would take it upon themselves to respond to me in an aggressive manner. The audience themselves could actually be unsafe for me.”
The outlet notes that Armstrong issued her own statement on September 6 “to clear the air” regarding the Masterson situation:
“I was asked to support someone I considered a friend at a court appearance, and went to one early hearing as an observer. Soon after, I realized I shouldn’t have,” she wrote.
After noting that she hasn’t been involved with Masterson in the time since, however, she issued the following apology:
“To say it as clearly as possible: I do not condone abuse or violence against women, and I empathize with the victims of these crimes,” Armstrong said.
As such, we’ll have to see how this situation progresses. The next album from Linkin Park will be released on November 15. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding Chester Bennington’s son and his thoughts regarding Linkin Park as we have them. In the meantime, his thoughts regarding the subject are quite clear.