Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Go To War With Emo Rockers Over Mock Gunfight
The company that owns the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders brand is suing the early-2000s emo band My Chemical Romance for copying its signature look.
Pro Silver Star filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in Texas district court late last week to stop the band from using costumes that too closely resemble its blue-and-white uniforms, per NBC News.
The move comes after My Chemical Romance performed Wednesday at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The court filing states that the show featured dancers dressed much like Cowboys cheerleaders, which the company argued could confuse fans into thinking they were actual squad members.
The dancers carried what appeared to be rifles and got into a fake gunfight “only to be depicted being shot,” the filing says.
“Audience members and online commentators understandably believed that the performers were the real Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and said so in social media posts that continue to circulate,” Pro Silver Star wrote of the incident, adding that it was “not litigious” and “takes no issue with MCR’s music, its artistic ambitions, or any message Defendants seek to convey.”
“Silver Star asks only that those performers not wear the DCC Uniform while doing it,” the filing says. “The universe of alternative costume designs is effectively unlimited.”
The filing cited specific social media posts featuring fans debating whether the dancers were real Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
My Chemical Romance is an emo pop-punk band that’s best known for singles including “Welcome to the Black Parade,” “Helena,” and “I’m Not Okay (I Promise).” They are currently on tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of their third studio album, “The Black Parade.”
The band has two performances slated for this coming weekend at the Hollywood Bowl and has not commented on whether the costumes would be changed.
“Each night the counterfeits appear, tens of thousands more people see DCC’s uniform in a gunfight, and each video and repost carries that image further,” the company wrote. “Those impressions cannot be recalled.”
