The family of late Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington has hit out at Mike Shinoda, claiming the musician is “profiting on fans’ grief”.

Earlier this month, Tobi Bennington, the sister of late Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, took to Twitter to accuse Mike Shinoda of “bullying” her brother over the years.

“Insincere actions and saccharine sweet words,” Tobi wrote on a Twitter account that has since been deactivated. “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.”

After Chester Bennington’s ex-wife chimed in to support these allegations, Tobi Bennington’s Twitter account was taken offline. Now, her husband has taken to Twitter to provide an update, while also condemning Mike Shinoda’s actions.

As Alternative Nation reports, John Knehr has set his sights on Mike Shinoda, specifically calling out his decision to play Linkin Park songs during his solo shows, while recruiting members of the crowd to sing Bennington’s vocals.

“Tob’s account wasn’t hacked,” Knehr wrote from the account of his band. “We don’t know who took it down! I’m sure she’ll put up another Twitter account in a few days. She’s struggling with this BS Mike Vs Chester and she finally had enough.”

“Being in a band myself, there’s always disagreements often it makes the music better sometimes it breaks a band up. In this case, the clash between the two was something that grew over time. I don’t know why but we saw it first-hand over many years. But it doesn’t take away from there music!”

“Mike having the crowd sing Chester’s parts! So wrong!” John Knehr continued. “Hire a new lead singer and go out as LP 2.0! That we all support. But he’s profiting on fans’ grief! That’s wrong and sad!”

“We don’t expect the guys from LP to not move on. We support them in the future if they do choose to get another lead singer that can do justice to the old songs and make the new ones his or her own! Better than a one-man band using the crowd to sing parts he can’t!”

“We want and love hearing fans singing along with the music! That what every artist dreams of! But put the band back together get a lead singer that can do them justice and make the new one him or her own! Not this karaoke show! If that’s not support I don’t know what is!”

While Mike Shinoda hasn’t addressed this controversy directly, he has frequently spoken in the past about his uncertainty of the band’s future.

“I don’t really know where it’s gonna go,” Shinoda explained back in July. “I’m basically trying to keep everything really open (right now).”

“I’m more excited about shows now than any time I can remember, just even doing a club show the other night for 600 people,” he continued.

“I’d written like a set for 60 minutes and I was onstage for 85, just kind of milking it. I was actually talking a lot, I added songs to the set and I was just enjoying being up there. We were just having this really cool, communal energy or something.”

“So I’m really just looking forward to more of that and wherever that takes me.”

While it’s true that Mike Shinoda has been performing Linkin Park songs during his live sets, it appears as though this is an attempt to continue the legacy of Chester Bennington, rather than profit from his tragic passing.

Regardless, it appears as though this situation is just a huge mess, and we hope that both sides can come to a peaceful resolution sometime in the future.

Check out Linkin Park’s ‘Numb’:

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