Just after he publicly called out Linkin Park for hiring controversial singer Emily Armstrong as its new lead, Chester Bennington’s son Jaime Bennington revealed that he has been receiving intense death threats from the rock band’s fans.
While addressing the backlash he has received, Jaime shared, “All these people come over to me and go, ‘You don’t know what your dad would think. You’re coming over to my posts and my livestreams and telling me to kill myself, that I’m awful, that my father doesn’t appreciate me. What are you talking about?”
Jaime Bennington also told the fans coming after him that they didn’t “give a f—“ when Chester died. “If you did, you would understand what the problem is. You would understand why this is all wrong. I do because I’m his kid.”
Chester’s son then shared that the “fans” would tell him to kill himself, seven years after the beloved late Linkin Park lead singer committed suicide.
Jaime admitted he doesn’t feel safe after speaking out. “There are a lot of people who do not like me. There are a lot of people saying some really awful shit right now to me,”
Chester Bennington’s Son Jaime Wants to Attend the Linkin Park Band Reunion Despite Feeling Unsafe
The younger Bennington further stated he wanted to go to the band’s reunion show tomorrow in order to get closure. However, he admitted he has some concerns about attending the event as well.
“To be honest, I don’t think I feel safe going to the show under general admission because I don’t know who I’m around,” Jaime continued. “I don’t know who would recognize me or take it upon themselves to respond to me in an aggressive manner when I’m just there to see the show. But I do need to see it.”
He then said, “The audience themselves could be unsafe for me…I do feel it’s necessary to acknowledge the severity of my situation, the ways in which people choose to interact with me. So many of these Linkin Park fans who will be attending have been cruel, unusual and aggressive.”
He further warned, “If anything happens to me or my partner while we are attending this concert, it is on Linkin Park.”
Jaime Directly Called Out Linkin Park Bandmate Mike Shinoda for Hiring Problematic Singer
Jaime previously unleashed on the Linkin Park bandmates for replacing his father with Emily Armstrong, who has a past with Scientology and supporting convicted rapist Danny Masterson.
“People aren’t having a difficult time wrapping their heads around the prospect of Linkin Park reinventing itself,” Jaime stated to Shinoda in his Instagram Story on Sunday, Sept. 8. “They’re having a hard time wrapping their head around how you: 1). hired your friend of many years @emilyarmstrong to replace [Chester].”
Jaime went on to stress that the Linkin Park bandmates are refusing to acknowledge the “impact of hiring someone like Emily.”
He then said that the bandmates “quietly erased [his] father’s life and legacy in real time” when they announced Armstrong as the new lead vocalist during Suicide Prevention Month.
“You have betrayed the trust loaned to you by decades of fans and supporting human beings including myself,” Chester Bennington’s son then stated directly to Linkin Park bandmate Mike Shinoda. “We trusted you to be the bigger better person. Because you promised us that was your intention. Now you’re just senile and tone deaf. Insane.”