Can we talk about Emily?

[Bambitt]

They are gonna be forever angry at her, at scientology obviously as well, that’s ok. They are gonna post statements for a while. They have every right to do so. Whatever happened we’ll never know exactly from either side tbh. 
 

But I take their statements with a grain of salt. Anyone can better themselves. I give a chance to prove herself to be a better person than they claim.

 

The LP train is going fast and I dont thinl its gonna stop.

Edited September 8 by Bambitt

[rd1994]

28 minutes ago, Bambitt said:

They are gonna be forever angry at her, at scientology obviously as well, that’s ok. They are gonna post statements for a while. They have every right to do so. Whatever happened we’ll never know exactly from either side tbh. 
 

But I take their statements with a grain of salt. Anyone can better themselves. I give a chance to prove herself to be a better person than they claim.

 

The LP train is going fast and I dont thinl its gonna stop.

Also, to me, all those posts scream "remember that you used to be by his side at some point?" and from her statement, she never denied that fact, she only stepped away when the truth came to light. Maybe she was guilty by association (pun not intended) but I am willing to believe she was not aware of it at that point.

I am apalled how many people that are against Emily are like "OPEN YOUR EYES! SEE THE TRUTH" while at the same time willing to consider that someone else (and not them) could be speaking the truth.

[Qwerty18]

From the little I have seen, those two seem to be a on personal vendetta, and every single word of theirs seem to come from a position of pure hatred.

 

Now, I don't want to downplay by any means all the terrible shit that couple went through. But by default, I just don't like the fact they are putting their dirty laundry in public, trying to inspire hate in a extremely large and uninformed public, and targeting it all at a single individual, who, unless proven otherwise, is just indirectly connected to all of it.

 

They have a right to it, but I definitely would take it with a grain of salt, indeed, given the bias.

 

Edited September 8 by Qwerty18

[solidss]

Mike in interviews said they were writing music together since 2019 which makes me believe that she contributed to making The Emptiness Machine and the lyrics, but I don’t know why people are trying to discredit her and say she had no input on writing that song. She even has credit on the song wikipedia where it shows songwriters and her name is there.

[Justin]

3 hours ago, HybridParty said:

Cedric Bixler Zavala shared his wife's statement with comments of his own. And now he's calling the band out directly

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_o3ZNtPXvK/?img_index=1

 

Even in those comments he's still giving the band the benefit of the doubt for now. He basically said it's on the label and their team for not vetting her thoroughly.

 

I'd imagine their stance will shift to calling LP directly complicit shortly. I also anticipate the controversy will start quieting down after a while. So it'll be interesting to see how the band/label react to all of this. It feels intentional that Mike has done a bunch of press over the last few days since the live stream and Emily has done none. I feel like that may not have been the original plan.

[Xelawie]

The more I think about it, the more I think that the band did not know. 

 

I mean they often said that Warner does not interfer with their creative choices anymore. I mean, if they knew that she was involved in Scientology and that she supported Danny Masterson in the past, she either would not have become a part of the band in the first place OR they would have come up with a plan on how to deal with it once people find out. Obviously, that is not the case. She even followed the guy after the announcement. If they knew, they would have told her to unfollow, I guess. The silence by the band is very telling. At this point, I really think that this took them by surprise and now they do not know how to deal with it. 

Edited September 8 by Xelawie

[Justin]

15 minutes ago, Xelawie said:

The more I think about it, the more I think that the band did not know. 

 

I mean they often said that Warner does not interfer with their creative choices anymore. I mean, if they knew that she was involved in Scientology and that she supported Danny Masterson in the past, she either would not have become a part of the band in the first place OR they would have come up with a plan on how to deal with it once people find out. Obviously, that is not the case. She even followed the guy after the announcement. If they knew, they would have told her to unfollow, I guess. The silence by the band is very telling. At this point, I really think that this took them by surprise and now they do not know how to deal with it. 

 

Linkin Park is a brand as much as they are a brand. They aren't going to respond to any of this in real time. We'll never know about it, but I'm sure they've been having meetings with Warner and their PR team on how to proceed and what the next steps have to be. Again, she was present for the live stream and the only time she's said anything publicly over the following 3 days has been the statement denouncing Masterson.

 

The only interview she was featured in since the live stream was the pre-recorded interview with Zane Lowe. Mike has been doing media over the past few days alone, when the obvious move you'd think would've been having her in on those interviews as well since she has been one of the main topics since as the band's new singer. I wouldn't be surprised if Warner is having her take a step back for now as they navigate all of this.

Edited September 8 by Justin

[bloodbath]

The fact that tickets are selling out fast indicates that people, for better or worst, doesn't care about all this.

[HybridParty]

4 hours ago, bloodbath said:

The fact that tickets are selling out fast indicates that people, for better or worst, doesn't care about all this.

 

I think tickets were going to sellout regardless just from the initial buzz of the band coming back.
 
Scientology is a very small organization worldwide and Emily wasn’t well known beforehand. It’s not surprising most people don’t know much about it or question her alleged involvement in the cult, I didn’t either before all this came up.

 

Some press have already caught on and it could get bigger as the tour gets going.

 

I just hope we get some more clarification soon or something.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9 by HybridParty

[Xelawie]

Bands like Rammstein sell out Arenas as well but I think this is not the point.

 

The band has been working with big companies such as Mercedes. If these companies also face a backlash this might lead to problems. Also, imagine what would happen if big festivals announce them as headliners. The comment sections would be flooded with the allegations. Last year, Rock am Ring had Pantera in the line up but due to the shitstorm after the announcement they dropped them from the festival. Even if it will get quiter during the next weeks it will start all over again and again when they are exposed to different platform and audiences. And in the end this will lead to them losing money.

 

Linkin Park is absolute mainstream. They are on mainstream radio, mainstream TV, have their music placed in TV shows and movies, they have big sponsors and endorsements. Plus, as they are a Brand, they stand for something which is now contradicted by the allegations against Emily. 

[Qwerty18]

13 minutes ago, Xelawie said:

Linkin Park is absolute mainstream. They are on mainstream radio, mainstream TV, have their music placed in TV shows and movies, they have big sponsors and endorsements. 

Tom Cruise, whose  public image is strongly tied with scientology, just took part in the closure of the olympics games.

 

As long as there is no evidence that she, as an individual, has committed to shitty stuff, I believe she will be fine, and I'd be willing to believe the band will rather protect her than the opposite. People will get used to it, and those who really can't bear with it will take their distance from the band. 

[neil]

9 hours ago, Xelawie said:

I mean they often said that Warner does not interfer with their creative choices anymore.

Personally I question this.  IMO One More Light was very clearly rife with label meddling - too many features, too many ghost producers, and you can tell the 2-3 songs (Good Goodbye, Sorry For Now and One More Light) that were organically created by the band and there's a stark difference between those and the rest of the album which all sound very very similar.

[Bambitt]

9 minutes ago, Qwerty18 said:

Tom Cruise, whose  public image is strongly tied with scientology, just took part in the closure of the olympics games.

 

As long as there is no evidence that she, as an individual, has committed to shitty stuff, I believe she will be fine, and I'd be willing to believe the band will rather protect her than the opposite. People will get used to it, and those who really can't bear with it will take their distance from the band. 

thank you! exactly, just saying that scientology doesnt believe in such and such does not mean that the people cannot have their personal opinions for fucks sake. if she turns out to be a bad person, then ok, but by now give her benefit of doubt. its like we're in a vicious cycle of repeating the same thing over and over and over. she released an apology statement. she might be still in the church, but her views on life etc does not have to be fully or even remotely based on the scientology dogma. we know shit, stop making assumptions.

[Trumtram]

3 hours ago, Xelawie said:

Last year, Rock am Ring had Pantera in the line up but due to the shitstorm after the announcement they dropped them from the festival.

To be fair, this was because of his White Power thing of which there were videos. This is not tolerable in Germany. But in the US no one (really) cared for that.

 

Sitting out this whole "thing" is not a good idea. The music world outside of the LP bubble will not ignore this and without any form of confirmation/explanation it will forever remain whenever someone talks about LP. Putting your head in the sand simply won't work, I'm afraid. It sucks and is not an easy thing to solve. I hope LP prepared for that beforehand, but so far it doesn't seem like it.

[Bambitt]

27 minutes ago, Trumtram said:

To be fair, this was because of his White Power thing of which there were videos. This is not tolerable in Germany. But in the US no one (really) cared for that.

 

Sitting out this whole "thing" is not a good idea. The music world outside of the LP bubble will not ignore this and without any form of confirmation/explanation it will forever remain whenever someone talks about LP. Putting your head in the sand simply won't work, I'm afraid. It sucks and is not an easy thing to solve. I hope LP prepared for that beforehand, but so far it doesn't seem like it.

People have short attention span. Being a racist is far worse than being a scientologist. Let's not be so dramatic. Like Qwerty mentioend above, Tom Cruise is mainstream AF and no one gives a shit, why should we be so bothered? 

Edited September 9 by Bambitt

[Trumtram]

1 minute ago, Bambitt said:

People have short attention span. Being a racist is far worse than being a scientologist. Let's not be so dramatic.

The last sentence was uncalled for. Sure, we could argue all day long what is "worse", but enough people (even on here) showed a severe lack of knowledge about what Scientology even is, what it does and (crucially) what it believes in. I find it absolutely ok to be concerned about this connection.

 

But you seem to underestimate the impact this whole thing has on the vast amount of sympathizers and more or less casual fans of the band (not even to mention general music fans). I shied away from comment sections, but whenever I dove in, the sentiment was "I'm done with this band". There is a substantial amount of backlash happening and it's fine if you or other people just want to give this a pass, you do you. Though, the more public awareness of "LP and their new singer" is tainted by this for now and there is a good chance that this connection will remain.

I hope they'll find a way to navigate it all. Guess we'll (hopefully) see.

[Bambitt]

Just now, Trumtram said:

The last sentence was uncalled for. Sure, we could argue all day long what is "worse", but enough people (even on here) showed a severe lack of knowledge about what Scientology even is, what it does and (crucially) what it believes in. I find it absolutely ok to be concerned about this connection.

 

But you seem to underestimate the impact this whole thing has on the vast amount of sympathizers and more or less casual fans of the band (not even to mention general music fans). I shied away from comment sections, but whenever I dove in, the sentiment was "I'm done with this band". There is a substantial amount of backlash happening and it's fine if you or other people just want to give this a pass, you do you. Though, the more public awareness of "LP and their new singer" is tainted by this for now and there is a good chance that this connection will remain.

I hope they'll find a way to navigate it all. Guess we'll (hopefully) see.

Let's agree we disagree. I have a knowledge regarding the cult, had a couple of seminars at Uni and went through a lot of documentaries regarding this cult and others, and yeah, its fucked up. I think the casuals will forget mostly, overall music fans will too, but it might cause some issues for the band potentially, but they gotta have some plans by now. But so far tour is selling out. Tours will be packed. 

[Trumtram]

Yeah, fine by me. But the picture of the Scientologist will remain ESPECIALLY in the mind of the "casuals". This one will stick, unfortunately. The outrage will die down, sure, of course. But this connection is in people's mind now.

 

And I didn't want to imply that you don't know anything about Scientology. But there were people on here who made statements in this direction. So, sorry, if you felt attacked by that!

 

It's just so difficult because she was (apparently) born into all this and whatnot. And just for the record: I don't think (at this point of time or anytime before that) that Emily is a bad person or an avid follower of Scientology. But we don't know.

[Bambitt]

Nah, I dont feel attacked by anything, dont worry  yeah. I agree with the last sentence, we dont know. Only thing we do know, that she's a member of that and Im not sure we need a statement about that. People already know. I think the SA allegations definitely needed a statement, but this is already out there.. you know what I mean. 

[Xelawie]

13 hours ago, Qwerty18 said:

Tom Cruise, whose  public image is strongly tied with scientology, just took part in the closure of the olympics games.

 

As long as there is no evidence that she, as an individual, has committed to shitty stuff, I believe she will be fine, and I'd be willing to believe the band will rather protect her than the opposite. People will get used to it, and those who really can't bear with it will take their distance from the band. 

I think the comparison to Tom Cruise does not really work. I think if you go and watch a movie starring Tom Cruise you do not really care what kind of a human being he is. For Linkin Park, with their whole legacy, it is hard separate the art from the artist. Chester sung those lyrics with such authenticity and we knew that they were very relatable for him. Part of what fans always loved about the band was rooted in their personalities and the way they opened up about certain things, they have always been more than the music.

 

Also, to make that clear, I am not making any assumptions about Emilys character. She might be a wonderful human being and it could be the case that her beliefs are not in line with what Scientology teaches. However, we do not know. With Chester, we knew. 

 

Also, I won't stop listening to the band but I see where all the disappointment online derives from. And I am also disappointed that the voices, especially of SA survivors or people who have their own battles with depression, are just ignored. I think if a statement is not possible, and I get that there might be reasons why it's not, you should at least release something like "we see you" or just like after Chesters passing "a statement will come as soon as we have one". Just ignoring the fans does not do us justice imho.

[LinkinMark]

Seems the band are just going to furiously sweep this under the rug and wait until this all blows over. Not sure how to feel about this whole thing. They are the least controversial band in the world and are now steeped in controversy. It seems a major misstep to not have caught this earlier.

[Qwerty18]

10 hours ago, Xelawie said:

Chester sung those lyrics with such authenticity and we knew that they were very relatable for him. Part of what fans always loved about the band was rooted in their personalities and the way they opened up about certain things, they have always been more than the music.

 

She might be a wonderful human being and it could be the case that her beliefs are not in line with what Scientology teaches. However, we do not know. With Chester, we knew. 

That is a valid point. But, to a lesser extent, it would also have been the case if she had no relation to that cult. We wouldn't really know how authentic she would be with the lyrics, nor about the skeletons she may be hiding in her closet. 

 

The members on this forum are pretty balanced in their opinion,  which is nice. But outside of here, you'll a find a lot of direct correlation between "affiliated with scientology = she monster!", which really got on my nerves at first.

 

But yep, I will say that, from the little I have seen, that cult is pretty fucked up, and by the day,  I understand better why it'd make some of you more worried or concerned. 

Personally, I decided not to worry, maybe also for the reason it's out of our control. The band is in a position where making a statement could prove extremely difficult, and Emily definitely can't make any. So I'll assume the best. And hope everything turns out okay in the end.

Edited September 10 by Qwerty18

[Xelawie]

I saw somewhere that Mike has made comments about Scientology in the past. Does anyone have a source of that? Would be interesting to see when those comments were made and what he had to say exactly.

[Trumtram]

1 minute ago, Xelawie said:

I saw somewhere that Mike has made comments about Scientology in the past. Does anyone have a source of that? Would be interesting to see when those comments were made and what he had to say exactly.

Something like that (timestamped): 

 

[Xelawie]

Interesting "What do you call it? Scientology?". 

 

So Open Door came out in 2020. At the time, he already knew Emily, but if you take this part of the Interview it seems like either he did not know much about Scientology or he wanted to act a little naive. Either way, he said it was pretty dark.