Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders owner takes legal action against My Chemical Romance over lookalike uniforms at Hollywood Bowl
My Chemical Romance is facing legal action from the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders after the band performed with dancers wearing look-a-like outfits.
The legal spat started as the rock band took to the stage to kick-off their five-night residency at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Wednesday (21 October).
During the performance of the band’s hit 'Teenagers', dancers dressed in the iconic blue and white Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders outfits went out onto the stage ‘armed themselves with rifles in a staged firefight, only to be depicted being shot’, the lawsuit, seen by NBC News, claims.
Footage from the concert has since been shared online and appears to show the dancers on stage wearing Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders-style uniforms.
The DCC's lawsuit against My Chemical Romance explained
Pro Silver Star Ltd. the owner of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, filed a lawsuit over the performance, requesting a restraining order and an injunction against My Chemical Romance that would ban them from using the costumes on stage again.
Advert
Pro Silver Star Ltd. claims that it had asked the band ‘to stop the infringing use of the DCC Uniform’, but the band refused.
The issue of associating the DCC brand with gunfire
“Audience members and online commentators understandably believed that the performers were the real Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and said so in social media posts that continue to circulate,” Pro Silver Star wrote.
The filing went on: “The brand DCC built on dedication, character, and community, and on decades of entertaining American troops, was thus put on a stage in a gunfight, its uniform worn by performers shown shooting and being shot.”
'The universe of alternative costume designs is effectively unlimited'
The company said it’s ‘not litigious’ and that ‘it takes no issue with MCR’s music, its artistic ambitions, or any message Defendants seek to convey’, stating that it is not asking the band to change their setlist, choreography, politics or ‘even their decision to put gun-toting performers on stage'.
However, it is requesting that those aforementioned gun-toting performers don’t wear the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders uniform while doing so.
“The universe of alternative costume designs is effectively unlimited,” the suit states.
According to Rolling Stone, the band still had the Dallas Cowboys-esque cheerleaders back on stage with them during their show on Friday (23 October) night, despite the ongoing legal action against them.
My Chemical Romance were formed back in 2001 by singer Gerard Way, bassist Mikey Way, guitarist Ray Toro, and drummer Matt Pelissier - and were later joined by rhythm guitarist Frank Iero.
The band went on to have huge success in the emo and pop-punk market, with hits including 'Welcome to the Black Parade', 'I’m Not Okay (I Promise)', 'Helena', and 'Teenagers'.
Between 2002 and 2010, they released four albums, but the band left fans heartbroken in 2013 when they announced they were splitting up. However, in 2019, they announced their reunion with several new shows and embarked on a reunion tour in 2022.
Speaking last month, Way revealed that the band planned to make a fifth studio album, but as yet have not shared any further details on when that might be released.
LADbible has reached out to reps for My Chemical Romance for comment.
Claire Reid