It’s hard to believe it’s been … since the music world was stunned by the news that Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington had passed away.
Bennington took his own life after years of srtuggling with depression and addiction, leaving behind a wife and six chidren.
The musician was laid to rest in a small private ceremony on July 31.
While all the guests were family and close friends of Bennington’s, not everyone was pleased with the way the ceremony played out.
Chester’s first wife, Samantha Bennington, took to Facebook this week to share her myriad compaints with the funeral in a sternly-worded open letter addressed to Chester’s widow, Talinda.
It seems Samantha felt that she and her children were given short shrift, having been scarcely mentioned durint the ceremony.
On top of that, she says Talinda orchestrated a ceremony that focused entirely on Bennington’s final years, to the exclusion of important parts of his early life, such as his relationship with his parents.
“Thanks for not honoring the one wish my son had by sharing his prayer with his siblings and throwing the rose quarts [sic] into the ocean with him,” Samantha wrote in a lengthy Facebook post.
Samantha went on to slam Talinda for excluding her and her family from the events that followed the funeral, writing:
“Thank you for not giving me or my 31 guests any knowledge of we’re the ‘after bowling celebration was.’
“Oh and your phone calls hours later wondering were we were lmfao still never mentioned where to go, name of place or address, it was a disgusting delusional display on all people who spoke at the funeral and their characters.”
Samantha went on to accuse Talinda of essentially editing Chester’s life down to the years of his second marriage:
“There were many friends and family that should have been there but when you turn a funeral into reducing someone’s life into only 12 years that’s what you get!” she wrote.
“His parents both were not there (meaning his dad-both parents) mother was there for clarification , and his parents were not mentioned in the program, his siblings were not mentioned, the mothers of his children were not mentioned, even his own children were not listed on the program!”
Samantha concluded her statement in brutal fashion, accusing Chester’s second wife of “capitalizing” on the death of the beloved singer:
“I hope you like capitalizing on his death…karma is rea,” she wrote.
“I send you back all your energy to you a thousand time folds! Look in the mirror, I hope you like what you see. Business is business but I see zero love.”
Fans are divided on the issue, with some saying Samantha was right to speak her mind, and others complaining that it was truly classless to call out a grieving widow in such public fashion.
Whatever the case, the situation makes for a sad addendum to a tragic situation.
