The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders sue rock band over gun-toting impostors in bizarre concert shootout

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THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?

SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).

  • The company behind the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders filed legal action Friday against rock band My Chemical Romance over dancers wearing lookalike uniforms during a staged gun battle.
  • The performers reportedly carried prop rifles, participated in a mock firefight and were depicted being shot during the band’s Hollywood Bowl production.
  • After the band allegedly refused a request to stop using the uniforms, the cheerleaders’ brand owner sought an emergency court order and monetary damages.

LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have survived decades of NFL drama, screaming football fans and the occasional embarrassing Cowboys season. But apparently nobody prepared them for an army of gun-toting lookalikes getting shot onstage at a rock concert.

Now the lawyers are involved.

Pro Silver Star Ltd., the company that owns the famous cheerleading brand, filed legal action Friday against My Chemical Romance over the band’s use of dancers wearing uniforms resembling the iconic Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders outfits.

And these weren’t your typical halftime routines.

According to legal documents reported by TheWrap and TMZ, the band’s October 21 Hollywood Bowl performance featured female dancers dressed in the familiar blue-and-white cheerleading style, carrying pom-poms before picking up rifles and participating in a simulated firefight.

The theatrical production, part of My Chemical Romance’s “The Black Parade” performances, depicts a fictional dictatorship complete with pyrotechnics, armed conflict, and performers being shot.

Some concertgoers apparently thought the dancers were the actual Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Imagine paying for a rock concert and wondering why Jerry Jones has suddenly expanded the halftime show into a military operation. The cheerleaders’ brand owner was considerably less amused.

Represented by prominent attorney Alex Spiro, Pro Silver Star asked the court for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction to prevent further use of the uniforms.

The company’s attorneys argue that the costumes are so closely associated with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders that their appearance in a violent stage production risks damaging the brand’s reputation.

In its filing, the company complained that the performers were involved in “a staged firefight, only to be depicted being shot.”

The lawsuit also claims that videos circulating online confused viewers into believing the dancers belonged to the real cheerleading squad.

The company says it isn’t trying to cancel the band’s music, interfere with its political messages, or rewrite the production. In fact, its lawyers explicitly stated that Silver Star doesn’t object to the band’s artistic ambitions or even its use of armed performers.

The objection is to putting those performers in Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders uniforms. As the filing puts it, “The universe of alternative costume designs is effectively unlimited.”

Translation: Feel free to stage your rock-and-roll revolution. Just leave America’s most famous cheerleading uniforms out of the firefight.

The company says it first contacted My Chemical Romance and demanded that the band stop using the outfits. According to the lawsuit, the band refused. That refusal prompted Friday’s court action, with Silver Star warning of continuing damage to the reputation it has spent decades building.

The company is also seeking monetary damages, although no amount has been specified.

My Chemical Romance, fronted by Gerard Way, has developed a reputation for elaborate theatrical productions. The group’s current “Black Parade” performances are hardly an ordinary concert with a singer, a microphone, and a few flashing lights.

As the legal battle erupted, the actual Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were making separate headlines after the Cowboys agreed to recognize their union, following years of disputes over compensation.

So the real cheerleaders are negotiating their working conditions while the pretend cheerleaders are dodging imaginary bullets.

For a franchise accustomed to national attention, this is a new kind of courtroom blitz.

My Chemical Romance has additional Hollywood Bowl performances scheduled, making the request for emergency intervention especially urgent.

Whether the judge sees the matter as a protected theatrical costume choice or an unauthorized use of one of America’s most recognizable entertainment brands is now the multimillion-dollar question.

DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).

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