When Chester Bennington, iconic lead vocalist of the rock group Linkin Park, took his own life in July, many were shocked. Although Bennington had been struggling with depression for a while, no one saw it coming. As a result, the media frantically searched for explanations into his death. TMZ initially reported that Bennington had a small amount of MDMA (ecstasy) in his system at the time of death.
However, now that the infamous celebrity news company has obtained the autopsy report, they are changing their story. TMZ has updated the story sharing that Bennington did not have MDMA in his body at the time of death. According to NME, he merely had a small amount of alcohol in his system. The preemptive report that found drugs in Bennington’s body ended up being negated by two following toxicology reports.
Bennington’s long time bandmate and friend, Mike Shinoda, took to Twitter to share the results. He made it clear that TMZ was wrong in their first report: “Just clearing this up: TMZ erroneously printed CB had MDMA in his system when he passed. That was incorrect, they misread the report. They have since corrected their piece, see below. I hope other publications have the decency to do the same.”
Just clearing this up: TMZ erroneously printed CB had MDMA in his system when he passed. That was incorrect, they misread the report. They have since corrected their piece, see below. I hope other publications have the decency to do the same. pic.twitter.com/MwglKqjsOc
— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) December 6, 2017
Photo Credit: Shareef Ellis