Bad Wolves Guitarist Doc Coyle Issues Statement in Response to Tommy Vext/ Black Lives Matter Controversy

Bad Wolves guitarist (and longtime friend of MetalSucks) Doc Coyle has released a statement responding to the recent controversy surrounding the band’s singer, Tommy Vext, and his statements about the Black Lives Matter movement and racism in America.

Vext, you may recall, released a video earlier this week, which he said he made “After weeks of research & interviews with independent journalist, military personnel, entertainment industry professionals, a virologist & many ex Democrats.” In the video, the vocalist asserted that racism in the United States is “manufactured,” saying that despite being a black man himself, “I have not experienced actual racism.” He also shared multiple debunked conspiracy theories about the genesis of the Black Lives Matter movement and George Soros, the Holocaust survivor and billionaire at the center of many right wing conspiracy theories.

Yesterday, in response to backlash against the video, Vext issued a statement in which he said that the content of the video was “a theoretical scenario that was explained to me which has been widely misunderstood as my beliefs and opinion.”

Now Coyle, who has already said on social media that he and Vext “don’t see eye to eye on this one,” has released a lengthy statement of his own. In the statement, the guitarist “apologize[s] to anyone who was hurt” by Vext’s video, which, he notes, has been deleted following Vext’s “retraction/clarification.” Coyle also stresses that his disagreement with Vext does not represent “a flashy band-feud,” but, rather, proof that “we as a country or society can find a way to find common ground despite ideological differences.”

You can read Doc’s entire statement below:

“I have been uncharacteristically quiet with regard to the Instagram video & backlash to said video about Black Lives Matter recently released by Bad Wolves singer, Tommy Vext. While it should be noted that I advocate for free speech & don’t want to censor anyone, I wholeheartedly disagree with the content of this video. I speak for & represent myself. Thankfully, today Tommy offered a retraction/clarification on his thoughts on the matter & the video has been deleted. That means a lot to me. Some people agree & that’s ok. Some people disagree & that’s ok. But I apologize to anyone who was hurt.

“Some in the media will exploit this as a flashy band-feud, but Tommy & I have spoken. We’ve heard each other, & that’s what this time should be about. Listening to one another. If he & I can disagree & be in a band together, then we as a country or society can find a way to find common ground despite ideological differences. But we can’t do that if we are talking past each other. I’m not an activist. I’m not a civil rights leader. But I offer solidarity to those addressing historical and systemic racial inequities in this country.

“Public band squabbles are bad for business, but if I didn’t make my voice heard about an issue pertaining to my own band, then I have no credibility to speak on other social issues that are important to me. I would be letting fear get the best of me. I want to put the focus back on music, not politics. This is a distraction from what we are here to do — create, perform, & engage. It may sound corny, but I want our message to be one of inclusion & positivity because that’s what I truly believe in.

“Thank you,
Doc Coyle”