Chester Bennington’s Son Says Linkin Park Fans Have Been ‘Cruel’ After His Criticism of Reunion

Chester Bennington‘s son is currently at odds with some of Linkin Park‘s fanbase, with the 28-year-old recently alleging that people have been “cruel, unusual and aggressive” to him following his criticism of the band’s reunion.

In a slew of videos posted to Instagram Stories on Monday (Sept. 9), Jaime opened up about wanting to attend Linkin Park’s fast-approaching comeback show in Los Angeles, in spite of his qualms with the group’s new vocalist Emily Armstrong. However, he claims his late father’s former bandmates didn’t offer him a ticket — and even if they had, he wouldn’t feel safe in the crowd.

“I haven’t heard anything back from the band themselves, which is not unexpected,” Jaime says in the clips. “They didn’t come to me with this announcement, they didn’t ask me how I felt.”

“There are a lot of people who do not like me,” he continued. “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.”

Jaime’s comments come shortly after he lobbed criticism at Linkin Park for tapping Armstrong as the band’s new co-vocalist, accusing Mike Shinoda of “quietly erasing my father’s life and legacy in real time.”

“You betrayed the trust loaned to you by decades of fans and supporting human beings including myself,” he added at the time, slamming Armstrong’s past connection to Scientology and support of convicted rapist Danny Masterson. “We trusted you to be the bigger, better person. To be the change. Because you promised us that was your intention. Now you’re just senile and tone deaf.”

In response to the backlash, the Dead Sara co-founder issued a statement on Sept. 6 distancing herself from the That ’70s Show star. “Several years ago, I was asked to support someone I considered a friend at a court appearance and went to one early hearing as an observer,” she said. “Soon after, I realized I shouldn’t have. I have never spoken with him since. 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.”

All of the commotion follows the band’s announcement that Linkin Park would be returning in 2024 after a seven-year hiatus sparked by the death of Chester in 2017. In addition to the lineup changes, the rockers will be releasing a new album, From Zero, on Nov. 15, and embarking on a massive tour starting with six arena shows kicking off Wednesday (Sept. 11) at the Kia Forum.

But much like Linkin Park’s fanbase, Jaime has conflicted feelings about the band’s new direction. “I want to go [to the concert],” he said on his Story. “There are reasons that I might not be allowed into the venue, which I can’t talk about right now, but unless I’m told explicitly, ‘You can’t go for this reason,’ I do want to go.”

“So many of these Linkin Park fans who will be attending have been cruel, unusual and aggressive,” he added. “You’re telling me to kill myself, you’re telling me that I’m awful, you’re telling me that my father doesn’t appreciate me … What are you talking about? You didn’t give a f–k when he died. If you did, you would understand what the problem is. You would understand why this is all wrong.”