"They should have told his family"— Internet reacts as Chester's mother claims Linkin Park didn't inform her about lineup changes

Chester Bennington's mom, Susan Eubanks, said she felt "betrayed" after Linkin Park's reunion and Emily Armstrong's addition. She spoke to Rolling Stone on September 19, 2024, about feeling hurt for not being notified of the band's lineup changes when they promised they would.

Eubanks claimed that she learned about Armstrong taking over the late Chester Bennington's role as the lead singer of the band online. She thought that if Linkin Park had their reunion, Mike Shinoda would be the one singing. However, the band opted to have a new vocalist (Emily), and that made her "very upset."

As Eubanks shared her candid thoughts about Linkin Park's new vocalist, netizens reacted saying that they feel for her.

"Oof. They should have told his family before announcing it to the world," a Reddit user said.

A fan comments on Chester Bennington's mom feeling betrayed by Linkin Park (Image via @sunmi_siren/Reddit)

Netizens said that they get where Susan Eubanks is coming from, with many pointing out that she's not the only one who isn't a fan of Linkin Park's decisions.

"I get where she's coming from. I've seen his son's tweets that he feels the same sentiment. It feels gross that they replaced Chester with someone who doesn't believe in mental health support/is a Scientologist who supported Danny Masterson. If this wasn't a cheat money grab IMO Mike would have started a new band under a different name," a Reddit user wrote.

"She is the second Family member of Chester who publicly states their disappointment with the band's actions. There is something iffy about their reunion and Emily Armstrong," another Reddit user commented.

However, other netizens supported Linkin Park's "right to move on," arguing that Bennington's family members "shouldn't have a say" about the band moving forward.

"They have the right to move on and celebrate their music in the way that they feel is the best way to do that. Chester's mom doesn't get a say on how the band is supposed to feel about anything," a user on X wrote.

"It's weird when band family members think they should have a say. The say goes to the band itself, even if they sink because of it. Not really an LP fan, in fact I hated them back in the day, but this is BS," another person commented.

"As a lifelong Linkin Park fan, I don't understand this. It's a band, not a solo cat. The band doesn't need to end in his absence. They waited 7 years out of respect. It's natural to grieve, process, and continue on with life," another X user wrote.

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Chester Bennington's mother says that she's not okay that Linkin Park has somebody "replace" her son

In her recent interview with Rolling Stone, Chester Bennington's mom mentioned her disappointment about not being kept in the loop with Linkin Park's vocalist change. If Mike Shinoda would go out and sing the tracks that her son performed before he passed away, she "would've been okay with that."

However, she said that she doesn't approve of the band getting a new vocalist for their reunion. She continued:

"I'm not okay with this, to have somebody replace him and to do what he did. I don't think that there's anybody in the world that has the same voice."

Eubanks added that if she could tell the rest of the band members one thing, it would be that she felt betrayed by them. She said that they promised to let her and Bennington's family know about the current endeavors and changes happening with the band, but they didn't.

Chester Bennington's son, Jamie, also spoke out against the band and their choice of vocalist. On September 9, 2024, he called out Linkin Park's new member Emily Armstrong's connection with Scientology and her support for Danny Masterson during his s*xual assault trial.