TW: This article contains details about suicide.
Chester Bennington's son has taken to social media to slam "bull****" conspiracy theories about his father's death.
In July 2017, fans were shocked to learn about the death of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. The news was reported by The Associated Press and later confirmed by a representative via Rolling Stone.
"Shortly after 9 AM [that] morning, we were notified by law enforcement of a death in Palos Verdes Estates," Brian Elias, chief of operations for the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, told Rolling Stone. "We responded to the scene and unfortunately confirmed that Mr. Chester Bennington was deceased at the scene."
His death was ruled a suicide.
Throughout his career, the singer struggled with mental health issues, as well as troubles with addiction, but by 2006 onwards, Bennington was celebrating his sobriety and using it as motivation to create new music.
Speaking to Spin in 2009, he stated: "It’s not cool to be an alcoholic — it’s not cool to go drink and be a dumba**. It’s cool to be a part of recovery... Most of my work has been a reflection of what I’ve been going through in one way or another."
Despite seemingly doing well for the best part of a decade, it was later revealed that the musician was battling mental health issues unbeknownst to those around him.
In 2017, he died by hanging.
Talinda Bennington, the singer's wife, launched an initiative called 320 Changes Direction in order to support those with mental health issues and to break down the stigma attached to depression and addiction.
Despite the heartbreak, the family went through with Bennington's death, it seems as though some people on TikTok have decided to bring up the conversation around the topic again.
After Bennington's 17-year-old son Tyler Lee posted a tribute to his late father last month on what would have been his 47th birthday, one person commented "your dad didn’t kill himself... he was doing good in this world and they didn’t like [it]."
Addressing the comment in a separate video, Lee slammed the conspiracy theory, stating that it was "bull****."
"This is the bull**** I will not be dealing with on my page. This person is getting blocked. I’m a child, this is inappropriate to comment on my post or anybody’s post for that matter."
He went on to say that "there’s no evidence to any of these theories that have been made. These are all just vain attempts to sensationalize and make what really is a tragedy, a big story."
"Get a life, man," he added.
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior about me, my family or any fan on my page," he wrote in the caption of the video. "It pains me to know that there are still people in the world who listen to this attention seeking slander. This is the only video I will post like this. For any other comments like this, I reserve the right to mock and ridicule you back, before blocking you."
"Thank you to everyone who has left supporting and kind comments. You are truly kind people," he concluded.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out for help and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
