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Josh and Zac have officially left Paramore.


Erin
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I don't know what to believe anymore.

 

I'm dissapointed. They haven't been completely honest with us and I hate that. But at the same time I'm not going to accept what Josh said as complete fact. It's biased. And while I'm not sure how I feel about the band right now, I don't hate them. I can never hate them. Even if they were manufactured, that doesn't change the fact that their music had an impact on me. In ways, they helped change my life for the better and, yes, it's upsetting that things weren't like I thought, but their music has meant so much to me and I feel like I owe them for that.

 

I just need some time to process all this.

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I've been browsing this forum for a while now, but I rarely join online forums. However, after the statement released by Josh and Zac, I kind of feel the need to vent a little.

 

The whole thing just screams sour grapes to me from start to finish.

 

"I had a statement typed ready to post to you guys but Hayley released one without my permission"

 

No offense, but you left the band, why exactly does Hayley need your permission to tell people that?

 

"Months down the road things changed and this band became all about Hayley. She had a manager at the time that controlled her every move along with her parents."

 

A young kid was having her career controlled by her parents and a manager? You mean they didn't let a 13 year old make her own career decisions? Well I for one am shocked, shocked I tell you. :roll:

 

"They didn’t like the idea of Hayley being in a rock band so they forced her to leave wanting her to pursue a solo career. Hayley went off to write and record her solo demos while the four of us continued on without her. A couple of months later Hayley came and asked us if she could use the song “Conspiracy†that we had all previously written together. We agreed that that would be fine. I got a call a while after that from Hayley telling me that her manager said that Zac and I were invited to be back in the band (the band we started), but not Taylor and Jason because they weren’t good enough in his eyes."

 

In other words, even though her parents and management wanted Hayley to go solo, she fought and was able to convince them to let her stay in a band. However it sounds like they refused to let Taylor or Jason be part of that band. So Hayley was faced with going solo or at least having two of the members of her band join her. She chose to have her band mates join her.

 

To be completely frank, Josh & Zac in my opinion try to make Hayley sound bad here, but they themselves made the exact same decision Hayley made. They chose to leave Taylor and Jason behind in order to join Hayley. Yet they make it sound like she did something wrong. Just a little bit hypocritical.

 

"We travelled to LA a few weeks later for a showcase and it was a nightmare. Hayley’s manager would tell the band to be in the lobby of the hotel at a certain time, but he and Hayley wouldn’t show for hours. We found out that they had been meeting with record label executives all morning without us, which is totally weird given that this wasn’t simply a solo artist, but we were a band. The band was in the dark the whole time. After many meetings between Hayley, her manager and the labels they decided to sign her to Atlantic records. We didn’t understand why Hayley was the only one signing the contract since we were told this was a “bandâ€, but we were too young to grasp all of this."

 

Hayley was also very young and was undoubtedly just following what her management told her to do. I can understand being annoyed at Hayley's manager and the record labels for this, but to be perfectly blunt, this is how things work in the entertainment industry a lot of the time. It's not uncommon, and if they let things like that bother them so much, perhaps the Farro brothers are in the wrong industry.

 

"The label received the rerecorded demos and once again tried to fire the entire band, saying we were terrible. Thankfully Hayley and I had been writing some new songs together (Hallelujah, Here We Go Again) that the label was pleased with so that acted as leverage for the band to stay."

 

So the label tried to get rid of the rest of the band again and again was convinced to let them stay. Hmmm I wonder who help convince them to give the band another shot and hear the new material. I'm assuming since her parents, management and label didn't want the band in the first place, it was Hayley who got the label to give them another chance. After all, she seemed to be the only one that wanted the band instead of going solo.

 

"So we finished the record, replaced Jeremy, and hit the road with Hayley’s father as our tour manager/driver of a twelve-passenger van. Her dad would constantly threaten to “pull the plug†on the whole band if we complained about anything, suggesting that we were hired guns and Hayley was the real artist, when in reality we were also part of the band. We’ve always been treated as less important than Hayley. It’s been obvious how her family views things."

 

If this is true I can understand Josh and Zac being upset about it. However some things, like negative matters concerning the family of someone you were supposed to want to remain on good terms with, should be handled in private, not in public. If I were Hayley, whether this were true or not, the fact that Josh and Zac aired this publicly would be enough for me to end my friendship with them on the spot.

 

"In reality, what started as natural somehow morphed into a manufactured product of a major label, riding on the coattails of “Hayley’s dream.â€"

 

This just sounds like a little kid whining that Hayley was getting all the attention from the label. "Wah, the label didn't care about me as much as Hayley". I know that sounds a bit harsh, but that what it comes across like to me. No offence, but they aren't going to find a label that truly cares about them. They may find one that pays them more attention, but all record companies really care about is $$$. Even in the case of Hayley, it may seem like they care about her and not the others, but they don't give a crap about Hayley, they just see her as the cash cow in the band and if that cash cow ever runs dry, they will drop her in a heartbeat. That's the way the record industry is Josh & Zac, time to get over it. At least it sound like you had Hayley fighting on your side to get you in the band in the first place. Consider yourselves lucky because from the sounds of it, if she hadn't fought to be in a band instead of going solo, you wouldn't have had any of this in the first place.

 

"Eventually Zac and I convinced Hayley to let Taylor rejoin and she convinced us to let Jeremy back in, promising he had changed his ways."

 

Wait, hold on a second. I thought everything revolved around Hayley, why did she have to convince Josh and Zac to let Jeremy back in the band? Surely if things revolved around Hayley as much as they're trying to make it seem, she would have just gone to the label and had Jeremy rehired. Having to convince Josh and Zac to let him back in sounds suspiciously like they make decisions as a group. Almost like they were *gasp* a real group and not just Hayley and her back up band.

 

"Hayley claimed that this record reunited us as band and made us grow closer together, when in reality we were all growing further apart."

 

Again trying to single out Hayley as the bad one, the liar if you will, when in reality the entire band acted like everything was good again, not just Hayley. And it's understandable that they did, why would they tell everybody the band was having major problems while they are touring and trying to promote their music? They did the right thing by keeping it internal and putting on a brave face for the public.

 

 

I would hope Josh and/or Zac just wrote this in anger because in my opinion it comes off as childish and bitter. I lost a lot of respect for them after this.

 

I hope Paramore goes on, continues to make great music and have success.

 

haha, hypocrisy thy name is craven moorehead. You claim it makes them sound childish and bitter, when in reality you have taken pretty much every single one of your listed examples completely out of context.

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this is probably going to be a giant mess because i'm not the greatest with words but....i'll give it a shot

 

"I did not think Hayley’s version told the whole story, at least from our perspective and hopefully this will explain a bit about why we are leaving."

keep that in mind people, it's how josh and zac saw everything happening, and to be honest...i'm sure they have a better idea of what was going on than everyone saying 'oh that's just how labels work'

 

"The intention of this statement was not to belittle or disgrace the rest of the band, it was simply to clarify our decision for leaving and our desire to finally tell you guys the truth. We are still hoping to work out a friendly way to leave our part of Paramore intact with the remaining band members, including Hayley.

We want to thank you guys for all of your love and support over the past 7 years. It’s been an honor creating and playing music for you. If music is what God calls us to in the future, we hope that you all will be a part of it."

oh look, they weren't trying to attack the band, and they did thank the fans

they were not personally attacking hayley, or anyone else for that matter

they were simply explaining what went on

it doesn't come across as bitter to me at all

and everyone saying if it was that bad why would they stay?

obviously it wasn't like that all the time

i'm sure if you asked them to write about good times it would be ten times longer

people wanted to know why they decided to leave, that's why

it's not the entire bands life story

and saying hayley was young when it started, imo, is not a decent excuse

she's had plenty of time to grow up and go 'okay, this is not how this should work' but she didn't

she let the fame and attention get to her and anyone who doesn't see that is in denial

i'm glad they came out and finally told us what we needed to know

 

also

"Furthermore, you wanted an explanation from Josh. Stop complaining about it. You don't have to take sides. It is what it is."

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I'll quote the whole post and tell you on each quote why I think you're wrong. If you want, that is, because i don't want to waste a lot of time replying if you dont really care/want to know.

 

 

Be my guest if you feel like it. I'm up for a little debate if you want. I will warn you in advance though that it's unlikely you will change my mind. I have my own opinion on Josh and Zac's statement and what they were trying to say. I will be the first to admit I may be wrong, but that is how I view what they wrote. It is just my opinion though and everyone is entitled to their own.

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And the debates have started. LOL

 

All i have to say is that people are going to have their opinions and probably even choose their sides which sucks. But it is what it is. And in regards to josh and zac's statement, it comes off as bitter especially towards Hayley but if thats how they felt than I'd rather have them tell their part of the story, the truth, than anything else. And tbh when I first starting reading the blog I thought it was a fake but it is what it is.

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True. I'm sure they had difficulty in posting this and writing because they obviously knew that people would interpret it in many different ways. We can't blame them for wanting to get this out there at least they felt that we were important enough to finally see where they were coming from. None of us can really hate on them for doing it this way because none of us have ever been in a band like Paramore. I know some of us will say that I would have done it this way if I were them but you're not and if you were you would have probably done it the same way. Its a tough situation to be in. I mean, they aren't only losing their band mates but also their friends it seems like. that must be hard.

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i wonder if hayley will say anything. she kinda has too.. uh ohh.

 

I hope not. It would probably be best if she let this pass with as little publicity as possible without continually having it brought back up. I'm sure some questions will be asked in future interviews, she and the rest of the band can respond then if they want after this has all died down a bit, but now's just not the time in my opinion.

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I've been browsing this forum for a while now, but I rarely join online forums. However, after the statement released by Josh and Zac, I kind of feel the need to vent a little.

 

The whole thing just screams sour grapes to me from start to finish.

 

"I had a statement typed ready to post to you guys but Hayley released one without my permission"

 

No offense, but you left the band, why exactly does Hayley need your permission to tell people that?

 

You've left out the next line that states: "We were not going to issue a statement until we worked out our exit agreement with Hayley.", which suggests that Hayley and the brothers had some sort of agreement beforehand, hence why Josh didnt agree with what Hayley did.

 

"Months down the road things changed and this band became all about Hayley. She had a manager at the time that controlled her every move along with her parents."

 

A young kid was having her career controlled by her parents and a manager? You mean they didn't let a 13 year old make her own career decisions? Well I for one am shocked, shocked I tell you. :roll:

 

He's not actually blamed or accused Hayley of anything here, all he's said is that the band was becoming all about Hayley, and if anything is having a pop at the agent/parents for handling her poorly. All he's saying is that his band is being interfered with from some external source that has completely different ideas to his own, which he doesn't like.

 

"They didn’t like the idea of Hayley being in a rock band so they forced her to leave wanting her to pursue a solo career. Hayley went off to write and record her solo demos while the four of us continued on without her. A couple of months later Hayley came and asked us if she could use the song “Conspiracy†that we had all previously written together. We agreed that that would be fine. I got a call a while after that from Hayley telling me that her manager said that Zac and I were invited to be back in the band (the band we started), but not Taylor and Jason because they weren’t good enough in his eyes."

 

In other words, even though her parents and management wanted Hayley to go solo, she fought and was able to convince them to let her stay in a band. However it sounds like they refused to let Taylor or Jason be part of that band. So Hayley was faced with going solo or at least having two of the members of her band join her. She chose to have her band mates join her.

 

Yeah, no problems here. However, once again, he's not attacked Hayley here or at any point tried to say she didn't want them in the band, So I can't see why you've quoted this or what you're trying to say.

 

To be completely frank, Josh & Zac in my opinion try to make Hayley sound bad here, but they themselves made the exact same decision Hayley made. They chose to leave Taylor and Jason behind in order to join Hayley. Yet they make it sound like she did something wrong. Just a little bit hypocritical.

 

Ah. You see, as I just said, they've not attacked Hayley here, nor does it look like they were trying to. You seem to be determined that Josh/Zac are trying to make Hayley sound bad, where as really you are just picking this up from out of nowhere and then bashing the two brothers. This is what baffles me.

 

"We travelled to LA a few weeks later for a showcase and it was a nightmare. Hayley’s manager would tell the band to be in the lobby of the hotel at a certain time, but he and Hayley wouldn’t show for hours. We found out that they had been meeting with record label executives all morning without us, which is totally weird given that this wasn’t simply a solo artist, but we were a band. The band was in the dark the whole time. After many meetings between Hayley, her manager and the labels they decided to sign her to Atlantic records. We didn’t understand why Hayley was the only one signing the contract since we were told this was a “bandâ€, but we were too young to grasp all of this."

 

Hayley was also very young and was undoubtedly just following what her management told her to do. I can understand being annoyed at Hayley's manager and the record labels for this, but to be perfectly blunt, this is how things work in the entertainment industry a lot of the time. It's not uncommon, and if they let things like that bother them so much, perhaps the Farro brothers are in the wrong industry.

 

Again, they're not bashing Hayley personally. Start thinking about it from their point of view. They're in a 'band', yet they are all getting ignored completely and only one member of this 'band' is in any sort of contact with the record label. This is not 'how things work', this is how it works with solo artists. They have every right to be upset, and you telling them that they are in the wrong industry is totally missing the point, because they were too young at the time to realise it and now that they have, oh look, they've left the band!

 

"The label received the rerecorded demos and once again tried to fire the entire band, saying we were terrible. Thankfully Hayley and I had been writing some new songs together (Hallelujah, Here We Go Again) that the label was pleased with so that acted as leverage for the band to stay."

 

So the label tried to get rid of the rest of the band again and again was convinced to let them stay. Hmmm I wonder who help convince them to give the band another shot and hear the new material. I'm assuming since her parents, management and label didn't want the band in the first place, it was Hayley who got the label to give them another chance. After all, she seemed to be the only one that wanted the band instead of going solo.

 

Once again, totally invalid point, because they've not contested that Hayley fought for them to stay in the band! I have no idea where you are getting this from.

 

"So we finished the record, replaced Jeremy, and hit the road with Hayley’s father as our tour manager/driver of a twelve-passenger van. Her dad would constantly threaten to “pull the plug†on the whole band if we complained about anything, suggesting that we were hired guns and Hayley was the real artist, when in reality we were also part of the band. We’ve always been treated as less important than Hayley. It’s been obvious how her family views things."

 

If this is true I can understand Josh and Zac being upset about it. However some things, like negative matters concerning the family of someone you were supposed to want to remain on good terms with, should be handled in private, not in public. If I were Hayley, whether this were true or not, the fact that Josh and Zac aired this publicly would be enough for me to end my friendship with them on the spot.

 

This is down to opinion, which means their isn't a right or wrong way, it's down to how the two parties interpret it. I personally think that it's great that Josh/Zac decided to share this, as it helps us understand the situation more. However, I could understand if Hayley would find this upsetting.

 

"In reality, what started as natural somehow morphed into a manufactured product of a major label, riding on the coattails of “Hayley’s dream.â€"

 

This just sounds like a little kid whining that Hayley was getting all the attention from the label. "Wah, the label didn't care about me as much as Hayley". I know that sounds a bit harsh, but that what it comes across like to me. No offence, but they aren't going to find a label that truly cares about them. They may find one that pays them more attention, but all record companies really care about is $$$. Even in the case of Hayley, it may seem like they care about her and not the others, but they don't give a crap about Hayley, they just see her as the cash cow in the band and if that cash cow ever runs dry, they will drop her in a heartbeat. That's the way the record industry is Josh & Zac, time to get over it. At least it sound like you had Hayley fighting on your side to get you in the band in the first place. Consider yourselves lucky because from the sounds of it, if she hadn't fought to be in a band instead of going solo, you wouldn't have had any of this in the first place.

 

If that's how it really sounds to you, then it's quite obvious that you are in Hayleys corner. You know fine well that Josh isn't acting like a little kid, you know fine well that 'hayley being cared about more than him' isn't the issue. The issue is that in his eyes it's now not the band he helped co-create, it's now a project started by the record label to push Hayley, and Hayley alone forward

 

"Eventually Zac and I convinced Hayley to let Taylor rejoin and she convinced us to let Jeremy back in, promising he had changed his ways."

 

Wait, hold on a second. I thought everything revolved around Hayley, why did she have to convince Josh and Zac to let Jeremy back in the band? Surely if things revolved around Hayley as much as they're trying to make it seem, she would have just gone to the label and had Jeremy rehired. Having to convince Josh and Zac to let him back in sounds suspiciously like they make decisions as a group. Almost like they were *gasp* a real group and not just Hayley and her back up band.

 

 

"Hayley claimed that this record reunited us as band and made us grow closer together, when in reality we were all growing further apart."

 

Again trying to single out Hayley as the bad one, the liar if you will, when in reality the entire band acted like everything was good again, not just Hayley. And it's understandable that they did, why would they tell everybody the band was having major problems while they are touring and trying to promote their music? They did the right thing by keeping it internal and putting on a brave face for the public.

 

How is he singling her out as a lier? Hayley did say the record saved the band, when in fact it clearly didn't. I can't recall Josh ever saying this himself(apologies if he did), and he's not going to openly challenege that claim, is he? Of course he's got to pretend nothing happened.

 

 

I would hope Josh and/or Zac just wrote this in anger because in my opinion it comes off as childish and bitter. I lost a lot of respect for them after this.

 

I hope Paramore goes on, continues to make great music and have success.

 

I think on several points, you've come to a self made conclusion that the Farros are taking pops or being abusive to Hayley, whereas nothing of the sort is happening. Several people in this topic have made the same mistake too. Also, take note that all that was said in the statement was Josh's opinion.

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I am really sad about this. That's the only emotion im feeling. There's no anger from me, i dont hate anyone. Im just in total sadness as to what is going on with my favourite band. I've had my personal experiences with them all and every member has been awesome and friendly in their own way. I find it impossible personally to be mad at any of them for anything. Theyve all did what they felt was the right thing to do.

 

Hayley/Josh wrote their announcements and they wrote what they felt was needed to be said. Not everyone is going to like it, and they know that. They cant keep everybody happy. No matter what they do or say, people will complain and im sure they'll know that. But i dont see this as bitchyness. I see it as Josh conveying his feelings, and i have no problem with that.

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^ this

i'm also not angry, i'm just sad and dissapointed.

 

i just wish i could meet them one day.

no matter what though, there's something about paramore that, even though hayley may have done a lot wrong and josh and zac have left, i can't physically imagine ever turning my back on them.

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this

i'm honestly surprised at how many people still kiss hayley's ass

this. i am in no way blaming hayley but so many people are only hating on josh just because he may be telling how it really was (IN IS EYES) and no one wants to believe hayley be like that

 

 

i just think it was the music industry pulling her in different ways and she didnt want to let go of the band so it made it SEEM like she was trying to ditch them... if you get what im saying

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Wow. It's safe to say I never saw this coming.

 

Some pretty heavy stuff being going on these last few days, and close to Christmas too: lot of emotions running high.

 

In the end, there's two sides to each story. And I was hopeful that both sides would have remained friendly after this whole thing, but after this post from Josh...I'm not so sure. It'd be a damned shame if they all fell out in the ugliest way possible.

 

As some people say, the music industry isn't as golden as some may say: of course there's a lot of crap going on behind the deals and the gold/platinum discs and the millions of record sales, but whatever happened with Paramore in the past that's in the past. I still love the music, it still means a lot to me, and like Jono suggested, I'm not going to just turn my back on something I love so much.

 

We all have to stay storng people, think of all the good times we've had with Paramore in the past and near present. :)

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OH MY GOD. I'm going to go with the totally unpopular opinion and say that Josh was 100% right in writing his statement this way. You can tell (for a long while now) that Hayley is, was and will always be the diamond of paramore, or the only one with worth as far as the management, her family, and record label were concerned. Most of the people that are mad about this post are the ones that believe Hayley can do no wrong. And for those saying "the friendship shouldn't be ended in public like this" you think this never came up before in private? Why do you think they were basically apart as much as they could be in the past 2 years? Bottom line is that he shed some light on something that has been going on for so long and I tip my hat to him for doing so.

 

Everyone was asking for a statement from him, now they're all bitching about it. I don't think some people will ever be happy with the situation.

 

Watch, after this, this will only fuel Hayley's "I'm the victim of the band" fire. The new album will be how they left because she was the outcast and the victim. If so, I'll be terribly disappointed.

 

To summarize this lengthy post, it definitely sucks to hear that a band we all love wasn't "genuine" (not a big deal to me to be honest, seeing that they obviously became friends for awhile) but people asked for a statement, AND THEY GOT ONE. Maybe it wasn't the ones that Hayley fans were hoping for, but it's the truth at that. Isn't that what everyone wanted? A statement explaining their departure?

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I was hoping for a video confirming it, it's basically the only way we'd know if it was them or not.

 

With that said, I definitely think this is going to split the fan base. But who are we to judge? We'll never know exactly how it went down. There are more sides to this than we'll know, and they all have a different perspective of it. Like Kayla said - they just explained why they left, I don't think they were trying to attack anyone personally. I also agree with her about how it probably would be ten times longer if you asked them about the good times.

 

I've met them three times now(Hayley two times) and every time they've been total sweethearts. They've smiled, talked to me, hugged me and signed things. They seemed happy to be meeting the fans, and grateful for where they were. That's my personal impression of them. So I am not going to choose a side, because it won't do any good. I can see where both sides are coming from, there's no wrong or right answer to how to express how this happened. They can only say how they saw it, and it will please some, and hurt some. That's just how it is. And I won't start hating on any of them. Their music shaped me, and has been a huge part of my life for the last three years, no matter how cheesy that sounds, it's the truth. This won't change that. They still made that music, and put their hearts into it.

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I still like the band and Hayley, but I agree with Erin's last post. Hayley is what 22 now?? If the label was trying to make the band all about her, and if she truly cared about the band, she could have told the label to stop just focusing on her. She could have said, we are a band, so treat us like a band and not just focus on me.

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OH MY GOD. I'm going to go with the totally unpopular opinion and say that Josh was 100% right in writing his statement this way. You can tell (for a long while now) that Hayley is, was and will always be the diamond of paramore, or the only one with worth as far as the management, her family, and record label were concerned. Most of the people that are mad about this post are the ones that believe Hayley can do no wrong. And for those saying "the friendship shouldn't be ended in public like this" you think this never came up before in private? Why do you think they were basically apart as much as they could be in the past 2 years? Bottom line is that he shed some light on something that has been going on for so long and I tip my hat to him for doing so.

 

Everyone was asking for a statement from him, now they're all bitching about it. I don't think some people will ever be happy with the situation.

 

Watch, after this, this will only fuel Hayley's "I'm the victim of the band" fire. The new album will be how they left because she was the outcast and the victim. If so, I'll be terribly disappointed.

 

To summarize this lengthy post, it definitely sucks to hear that a band we all love wasn't "genuine" (not a big deal to me to be honest, seeing that they obviously became friends for awhile) but people asked for a statement, AND THEY GOT ONE. Maybe it wasn't the ones that Hayley fans were hoping for, but it's the truth at that. Isn't that what everyone wanted? A statement explaining their departure?

i 110% agree with everything you said

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