On Friday, it was announced that Michael Pedicone was fired as the drummer for My Chemical Romance for “stealing”; today, the former member did his best to explain his actions.
“The relationship between My Chemical Romance and Michael Pedicone is over,” read a statement on the rock act’s website last week. “He was caught red handed stealing from the band and confessed to police after our show last night in Auburn, Washington. We are heartbroken and sick to our stomachs over this entire situation.”
The group failed to say what exactly was stolen last Thursday, but added that they have no plans of pressing charges. “We just want him out of our lives. The people who play in this band are a family, and family should not take advantage of each other like he did.”
Jarrod Alexander (Suicide File, Dead Country) has since replaced Pedicone for the rest of the Blink-182 tour.
After the long weekend, Pedicone issued his own statement, released to Kerrang!, explaining that his motivation was not to sell the stolen items, but to frame one of the members of MCR’s crew for “incompetence.”
Almost as soon as I began touring with MCR I ran into problems with a member of the band’s crew who I’ll not name. The problems were many, big and small, but some of them were large enough that they began to greatly impact me and, by extension, my family. I’d reached my wits’ end, and I made what was certainly the poorest decision of my life. Rather than address the issues that I had with the crew member in an open and honest manner, I tried to make them look irresponsible. My intention was to make this person look incompetent. I had no intention of profiting whatsoever. Again, I cannot overstate how poor my judgment was in this situation; it was a tremendous mistake, and it’s one I’ll regret for years to come.
He continued by saying that he would have “liked an opportunity to share my side of the story with MCR, an opportunity to express my remorse. I was never given one.”
Pedicone joined MCR late last year, after Bob Bryar exited.