Tobi Bennington, the sister of late LINKIN PARK singer Chester Bennington, accused Chester‘s bandmate Mike Shinoda of mistreating her brother throughout the years, writing via Twitter:
“My LP Family, ‘I scream at myself when there’s nobody else to fight; I don’t lose, I don’t win, if I’m wrong then I’m halfway right; I know what I want but it feels like I’m paralyzed.’ This is how I feel about Mike vs. Chester. Someday the truth will come out.”
She added after a fan expressed confusion over the post:
“Someday it will make sense. Now is not the time.”
After a fan wrote, “Please, don’t write these things and leave us without explanation! It hurts us,” Tobi replied:
“I’m sorry. I’m not intending to hurt anyone. My apologies.”
Another fan replied with: “I mean this with all the love in the world ’cause we adore you Tobi but it’s a little cruel of you to put this type of tweet out there which you know we won’t understand and will just upset and confuse all of us.” Tobi replied:
“Watching everyone talk about my brother and Mike has been causing me to have anxiety attacks and it feels cruel at times. I’m sorry for the pain this will cause. I need to take the bandage off. I pray you will support me.
Another fan wrote: “Perhaps you didn’t know your brother as well as you thought, if you think there was ever Mike vs. Chester. I know you’re grieving still. My sister died by suicide. I get it. But to post this with no context, knowing so many who love Chester follow you, is irresponsible.” Tobi replied:
“I’m sorry you feel this way. And I’m deeply sorry for the loss of your sister. I know my brother very well thank you. And I know he wouldn’t want M. vs C. He’d want unity. He’d also want it to be authentic. And I’m saying that it currently is not and never was.”
Tobi also exchanged a few tweets with a fan who had since deleted his comments. Tobi‘s posts read:
“Yes. Let the music speak for itself. LP was unified in their message. Stop putting them against each other. As individuals, that’s another story. Keep the focus on LP and less about how close Mike and Chester were.”
“This does hurt and I’m sorry. The focus needs to be on LP as a whole. Not as separate relationships. As a whole, LP had a solid bond. Individually this was not the case. I can’t pretend any longer.”
“Individually they were not all ‘brothers’ but as for LP, that was a brotherhood. They were not best friends. Knowing how Mike treated my brother… It wasn’t kind. For the sake of LP, they maintained a united front. And it worked but now the lie needs to stop.”
A response of one fan to these tweets was: “Now you’re crossing over into slander. Do you realize that?”. Tobi replied:
“It’s only slander if it’s not true. And I know what I’m talking about is the truth.”
One fan then wrote: “Could you stop with the spits and spats and actually say what is supposed to have happened because so far you’re stating and not supporting what you’re saying. It’s confusing.” Tobi replied:
“For the good of the order, LP was a unified brotherhood. The same cannot be said for individual relationships. The two of them were not best friends.”
Asked to present more concrete proof to back her claims, Tobi responded:
“The proof I have is my own witnessing of behavior and language. As well as conversations and the reality of time and place. This is not slander. I’m not disrespecting anyone. I’m merely asking for the charade to end.”
A fan commented: “When Chester was alive he show us the love he felt for his friend and it’s in what I believe. Other people saying something after he passed away it’s cruel to me. Why never talked about that before? It’s cruel to fans.” Tobi replied:
“My intentions were never meant to be cruel. I’ve been biting my tongue since the funeral. My patience has expired. And my strength is coming back. I feel strong enough to finally speak the truth.”
She also said:
“Insincere actions and saccharine sweet words. I was too traumatized then to speak up. Honestly, I thought the charade was over but he only spoke louder. He was rewarded for his ‘pain.’ And now the charade is growing and it needs to stop.”
Pointing out her Twitter has “not been hacked,” Tobi replied to a fan who said, “I don’t go to Mike’s shows or listen to his music because of Chester. Mike is a gifted musician and artist in his own right. He isn’t being rewarded for his pain. For someone who retweeted about spreading love and not hate yesterday… I’m confused by your message today”:
“The truth is not hate, even when it hurts. I’m not being disrespectful. I’m telling it like it was. I get that you don’t know me. I would never make something like this up.”
After a fan suggested she should go and talk directly to Mike instead of publicly posting things like this, Tobi replied:
“Mike knows exactly where the two of us stand.”
