Talinda Bennington Speaks out After Full Autopsy Report Leaks

Chester Bennington’s widow, Talinda, is blasting TMZ for reporting on redacted information in her husband’s death certificate.

Originally, TMZ falsely reported that Bennington was found with alcohol and ecstasy in his system when he died in July. However, the report was updated to read that although one blood test tested “presumptive positive” for MDMA (ecstasy), two subsequent tests did not detect the drug — which meant Bennington was not under the influence of drugs when he died.

Linkin Park band member Mike Shinoda tweeted about the 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,” he wrote.

After the original ecstasy report was corrected, TMZ released another article detailing redacted information about Bennington’s autopsy. This report included information from a previous suicide attempt by Bennington — information Talinda Bennington had specifically asked not to be released, citing marital privilege.

After the redacted information was published, Talinda angrily tweeted, saying she wanted the information redacted to protect her and Bennington’s children.

“Fun fact- When your husband dies by suicide, the LA County Coroner’s office will PARAPHRASE your private conversation with them to dramatize and sensationalize the story and then SCUMBAG FILTH like TMZ post it for the world to feast on. It was redacted to protect all the kids!!” she wrote, replying to her tweet with the hashtag #F—YouTMZ.

She also wrote on Twitter that she pulled her 11-year-old son out of school so that he wouldn’t hear the news from other kids.

Others called out TMZ on their reporting, asking them to leave Talinda and her family alone.

Early Thursday morning, Talinda thanked her fans for their support “about this outright cruel violation of our privacy.”

“My family and I thank you all for the outpouring of support about this outright cruel violation of our privacy. As an evolved society, we can’t accept this salicious and irresponsible journalism anymore,” she wrote.

Bennington committed suicide on July 20. He was 41 years old and was the lead singer of Linkin Park and a member of Stone Temple Pilots and Dead By Sunrise.

“My babies are so young to have lost their daddy,” Talinda said in a statement a week after his death. “And I know that all of you will help keep his memory alive. He was a bright, loving soul with an angel’s voice. And now he is pain free singing his songs in all of our hearts. May God Bless us all and help us turn to one another when we are in pain. Chester would’ve wanted us to do so. Rest In Peace, my love.”