Five Finger Death Punch Cancellation Controversy: Ivan Moody Says He “Melted Down”
Well, this may end up being the strangest story of 2016.
This past Friday, November 25, Five Finger Death Punch were forced to cut short their at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. The reason? Vocalist Ivan Moody was apparently a total mess. Some fans speculated that the singer was wasted…
@Darkblad188 ffdp was a disappointment. The singer was to drunk to perform
— WingNut Dead (@pellegriti75) November 26, 2016
…which may have actually been understandable, given what Moody reportedly told the crowd:
“My mother, is actually passing along today. And I chose to be here instead of with her.”
Okay. So Moody got hammered because his mom died or was dying. You could argue that he should have just cancelled the show, but like I said: totally understandable. Plenty of us choose to get sloshed when a close member of our family dies.
Except, here’s the thing — Rock Feed reached out to Moody’s sister, Sandra Dykes, and as it turns out, Moody’s mother is fine:
“Our mother is alive and well. I believe in my personal opinion that Ivan was drunk and used that as an excuse for his horrid behavior.”
Blabbermouth then reported that Moody “was referring to a family member that is not his birth mother”… but Sandi told Rock Feed that “no one in our family is sick or dying currently.”
Okay, so what the fuck happened? Returning to the stage in Newark, NJ on November 26, Moody told the crowd the following (again via Rock Feed):
“I was asked not to say anything about my past. I’ve never done what anybody told me to. Last night I had a mental moment. It had nothing to do with alcohol, drugs, or any of it. True. Just melted down.
“The last thing I wanna do was embarrass my band, or my family, or any of you. I always make fun of Kanye West… just let me finish… I found out today he’s still in the mental institution. Don’t be rude, straight up. I never got it before. I’m starting to get it now. If it wasn’t for you beautiful motherfuckers, I don’t think I’d be on this stage.”
Sure, sure. Let’s bring Kanye West into this. At this point, why not?
Here’s video of Moody making that statement:
The whole story gets even crazier when you remember that last year, both Sandra and Moody’s mother took out restraining orders against the vocalist, claiming that he gets violent when he’s been drinking and/or doing drugs. At one point, there was also a report that Moody’s wife, Holly Smith, had accused the frontman of domestic abuse and was filing for divorce… but that report got shot down by FFDP guitarist Zoltan Bathory, who said Moody wasn’t even married… and then that report got even more muddled when FFDP’s manager, Allen Kovac, released this statement:
“Holly Smith has made claims of domestic violence that were dismissed on July 14th, 2015. She has also claimed that she was married to Ivan Moody, which Ivan denies. A search of county clerk records in the location she claims to have gotten married showed no marriage certificate.”
And if you haven’t gone fucking cross-eyed at this point, I salute you. Personally, I’m having a hard time continuing to type out this story because I’m bleeding out of eyes, nose, and ears. I feel like I know almost nothing about what the what is actually going on here.
Strike that: I know Ivan Moody needs help. Regardless of whether all the shit that’s happened has been the result of drugs and alcohol or a mental breakdown or some combination thereof, I think we can all agree that his behavior is not normal. Something is clearly wrong with the dude. And as much as I hate his music, I don’t want to see any harm come to Moody. I sincerely hope that all the people who work with him behind the scenes can get him sorted out. Because if they don’t, I fear this story will not have a happy ending, regardless of the specific circumstances.
If any new information comes to light, we’ll certainly let you know.
