Chuck D and Flavor Flav.Photo: Rebecca Sapp/WireImage
Flavor Flavhas been ousted from the group he co-founded 35 years ago.
“Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be moving forward without Flavor Flav. We thank him for his years of service and wish him well,” read a statement from the group, according toRolling Stone.
A rep for Flavor Flav did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“Flav reached out in the interest of unity, supporting Chuck’s right to speak his mind but without unnecessarily misleading the public. Unfortunately, for the time being, Chuck has opted to fire off an increasingly unhinged series of tweets …” read the statement. “Chuck may own the name Public Enemy but all you had to do was look at the masses of clock-wearing fans pouring out of the rally … to know that there is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav.”
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
News of the musical breakup comes after Flav sent a cease and desist letter toBernie Sandersconcerning a rally that Chuck D, 59, was set to appear at over the weekend.
In the letter, Flav clarified that he didn’t endorse any candidate, though marketing for the event made it look as if the whole group was cosigning.
“Hey Bernie, don’t do this,” Flav said in a handwritten note at the end of the letter.
After making his appearance at the Sanders rally on Sunday, Chuck Dwroteon Twitter: “If there was a $bag, Flav would’ve been there front & center. He will NOT do free benefit shows.” Chuck D alsotweetedthat his “last straw was long ago.”
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The hip-hop group wasinductedinto theRock & Roll Hall of Famein 2013, at which time singer Harry Belafonte called them “radical, revolutionary change agents.”
According toUSA Today, Flav added in a statement that the group he helped create “wasn’t a dictatorship it was a movement based on the way we lived in our neighborhood and what we faced in our community.”
He added: “I hope that Public Enemy can get back to doing the good works we have done for 30 years … not for money but for people like me who have been denied their rights to participate because of … policies.”
source: people.com
