The Ghost Inside have officially parted ways with bassist Jim Riley, after accusations of him using racial slurs towards a bus driver in 2015 recently surfaced on Thursday. You can read the official statement from the band below.
This is cute. @theghostinside y’all gonna act like your bitch ass bass player didn’t call y’alls bus driver a nigger that time? I ain’t forget that shit. https://t.co/vTJuawPbyW
— Shod Exotic (@RashodJackson) June 5, 2020
“The Ghost Inside was born from a scene of forward thinking, understanding and progressiveness. Our music and message has always been one of hope and finding that light at the end of the tunnel. Racism and bigotry of any kind stifle that journey towards the light. It closes and locks doors that need to be broken open.
“We have decided to part ways with bassist Jim Riley. While we didn’t hear these words spoken directly from his mouth, we did hear mutterings of the incident. At the time we thought this to be just a rumor, but it offended and hurt a community. A community we are meant to bring together. We should’ve spoken up back then but we didn’t, we should’ve dug deeper. We acknowledge that we were silent. We are self educating and growing and learning as individuals. We are here to say that we as a band fully condemn racism and support the black community in the fight against systemic racism.”
— The Ghost Inside (@theghostinside) June 6, 2020