Details About Chester Bennington's Sister And Why She Called Out Mike Shinoda On Twitter
Did Mike "mistreat" Chester?
Twitter The music world experienced a tragic loss in 2017 when Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington passed away. His cause of death was reported as a suicide.
Now, over a year after the vocalist's death, his sister Tobi Bennington has taken to Twitter to speak out about how she perceived the relationship between her late brother and his fellow bandmate Mike Shinoda. Bennington's sister's social media tirade against Shinoda has caused suspicion as to what it could really mean and why she chose to bring these accusations to light.
So who is Tobi Bennington? And why did she call out Mike Shinoda on Twitter?
Here are some details about Chester Bennington's sister and her allegations against Mike Shinoda.
1. Tobi accused Shinoda of "mistreating" her brother.
Over the weekend, the singer's sister sent out numerous tweets regarding Bennington's relationship with his bandmates. Tobi targeted Shinoda in particular, stating that the "truth about Mike vs. Chester will someday come out." She also said that the two singers were not "best friends" or "brothers" and even stated that Shinoda's treatment of Bennington "equated to bullying."
Tobi also claimed that she had witnessed this herself and said that Linkin Park was united as a band, but the members were not that close individually. She also made it clear that "Mike knows exactly where the two of us stand" and that her account had not been hacked.
After the rant, Tobi deleted her Twitter.
2. Bennington's ex-wife agrees with Tobi about the accusations.
The late vocalist's ex-wife, Samantha Marie Olit, chimed in on Tobi's Twitter rant, backing up Tobi via her Instagram. Olit responded when asked about her sister-in-law's tweets by a fan, stating that, ""My sister-in-law speaks the truth. I just got off the phone with her and my son and I support her! We have many things of our own to say and we will speak them publicly when we're ready! Our family stands strong!"
3. Bennington's niece also weighed in on Tobi's tweets.
Bennington's niece, Alyssa Morse, seemingly tweeted out her own stance on the Mike vs. Chester situation. And Morse seemed to disagree with Tobi and Olit. Morse's reply was simply, "Lol false news."
4. Tobi has dealt with mental health issues in the past.
In July 2018, Tobi told her followers that she was going silent to focus on her mental health. In August 2018, she revealed on Twitter that she had checked out of the hospital. Tobi returned to the social media platform to thank her followers and let them know that she was "in a much better place."
This wasn't the first time Tobi has spoken out about mental health. She and Bennington's wife, Talinda, made a video where they spoke about raising awareness for mental health issues.
5. Shinoda revealed that the band knew about Bennington's "demons."
In June 2018, Shinoda disclosed in an interview that all the members of Linkin Park knew Bennington was dealing with demons in his life. After the singer's passing, the band posted a letter to him on their website. An excerpt from the letter reads, "We’re trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal. After all, it was the way you sang about those demons that made everyone fall in love with you in the first place.”
When Shinoda was asked about this specific excerpt in his interview, he stated "Well, I feel like the bottom line with that is that we knew the guy. Like, we knew what we were dealing with. He knew what he was dealing with. That’s all. That’s all that means," he said. "It was an ongoing … just like anybody who deals with that stuff, you know, it’s an ongoing thing.”
Shinoda also discussed Bennington's legacy a little and revealed how he felt after the band's live tribute to him. “The week after the show, I was listening back and going, ‘God, these people were all really great singers and none of them were Chester,'” he says. “He had such a specific tone and range — an incredible range. He could sing almost any style you wanted him to."
Sloane Solomon is a YourTango editor and writer who covers pop culture, lifestyle topics, and love and relationships.