Overview
- Early June footage from a Toronto hardcore show shows End It frontman Akil Godsey calling a banana-costume wearer to the front and offering the band’s setlist to anyone who would remove the costume, after which crowd members stripped the outfit.
- The fan later posted that he had been an “unwilling participant” and then deleted his Instagram account, a claim that has been reported but not independently confirmed by promoters.
- Godsey posted an Instagram video defending the band, saying he had received racism and death threats and suggesting the fallout could threaten the band’s future.
- Reporting says End It no longer appears on some versions of posters for Hatebreed’s European tour that earlier listed the band, a change described in coverage but not fully verified by promoters.
- Nearly a month after the Toronto clips circulated, footage from Jera On Air in the Netherlands shows Godsey hugging a different banana-costume attendee onstage in what has been framed as a symbolic truce, a move that has not ended debate inside the hardcore community about consent and acceptable stage conduct.