Hayley Williams believes she was made out to be the villain when Paramore underwent significant lineup changes because she’s a woman.
The ‘Misery Business’ singer has opened up about the sexism she has faced in the music industry and insisted that if she "had a d**k", there wouldn’t been any drama around co-founders Josh Farro and Zac Farro’s exit from the band in December 2010.
In a candid interview with Vulture, Hayley said: "I find it interesting that bands we’ve loved who have been through lineup changes – even bands who haven’t – have been honest about how much they hate each other, and you never question their loyalty.
"You never think, Oh, Thom Yorke must be the f***ing Hitler of Radiohead. He can be an asshole.
"I wonder if it’s simply because I’m a woman? I could have had a d**k and the story wouldn’t have gotten any traction."
At the time of their exit, Josh had explained that he felt the emo pop band had "morphed into a manufactured product of a major label, riding on the coattails of ‘Hayley’s dream.’"
Hayley revealed tensions started to show when they played a stadium show in London after a heated debate with Josh, who was considering suing the band over the use of their name.
She recalled: "I looked at him and said, ‘I’m not good with numbers. Are you kidding me? Don’t ask me that.
"He was trying to figure out if he was going to take legal action against us to own the name or … I don’t remember everything he was going to fight for, but he ended up not.
"It’s not easy to fight your friend. What I like to believe is there was a moment when he realised it wasn’t worth it. It all got dropped."
The lineup changes didn’t stop there, in 2015, the band’s bassist Jeremiah Davis departed the Tennessee band and sued the singer and guitarist Taylor York, requesting more of the profits from their 2015 self-titled LP.
In hindsight, Hayley believes the group "needed that to happen".
On brothers Josh and Zac leaving, she added: "There needed to be infections cut out. We needed to shed blood."
In 2012, drummer Zac rejoined the band – currently comprised of Hayley, Taylor and the sticksman – on their 2017 LP ‘After Laughter and they have been on hiatus since their 2018 tour.
In the meantime, Hayley recently launched a solo career with her debut album, ‘Petal For Armor’, the second part of which lands on Friday (08.05.20).
Hayley Williams calls out sexism over Paramore’s lineup changes
