My Chemical Romance are facing legal action from the company behind the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders after featuring dancers in lookalike uniforms during their recent Hollywood Bowl shows.
The band made headlines earlier this week when they brought out dancers dressed as the famous cheerleading squad during the opening night of their five-show residency at the Los Angeles venue on Wednesday, October 21.
During the performance of Teenagers, the dancers came out and then became involved in a staged gunfight with soldiers during Disenchanted, having prop rifles and appearing to be shot before crawling offstage.
Now, Pro Silver Star Ltd., which owns the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) brand, has filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the band, seeking to prevent them from continuing to use the costumes.
The legal action was filed in Dallas County, Texas on Friday October 23, with the company arguing that the distinctive uniforms are protected and that their appearance in the violent sequence could damage the cheerleading squad’s reputation.
According to court documents obtained by TheWrap, Pro Silver Star claimed that “audience members and online commentators understandably believed that the performers were the real Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” with the confusion spreading across social media.
The company also alleged that it had contacted My Chemical Romance and asked them to stop using the uniforms, but that the band had refused.
It said their continued use threatened “ongoing and irreparable harm to the reputation and goodwill Silver Star has cultivated in the DCC brand.”
“Silver Star does not ask Defendants to change their setlist, narrative, politics, choreography, or even their decision to put gun-toting performers on stage. Silver Star asks only that those performers not wear the DCC Uniform while doing it.
As well as requesting an injunction, Pro Silver Star is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
