Chester Bennington Memorial Items Removed From eBay: Who Put These Items Up For Auction?
In the days since Chester Bennington’s tragic death, eBay sellers have listed a number of items honoring the late Linkin Park frontman, many of them unofficial. But reports are claiming that one seller had gone as far as to list items from Bennington’s memorial service last weekend, only for the seller’s items to get pulled from eBay after Chester’s “inner circle” had intervened.
According to TMZ, some of Bennington’s friends discovered several items from the late singer’s memorial selling on eBay, including a program, lanyard, wristband, and pin identical to the ones handed out during last Saturday’s service. This prompted them to get in touch with eBay and ask that the online auction site take down the items immediately.
As reported previously by Rolling Stone, Chester Bennington’s memorial service was a private one attended by over 500 friends and family members and held at the South Coast Botanical Garden in Palos Verdes Estates, California. The singer, who committed suicide on July 20, was eulogized by bandmates Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn, with several other musicians paying tribute to their departed friend in song. Some attendees, including former Of Mice and Men singer Austin Carlile, posted photos of the memorabilia given out at the service, such as the aforementioned programs and lanyards.
Someone is selling Chester Bennington memorial service items and we are beyond disgustedhttps://t.co/P3OIU7IihK pic.twitter.com/K8i9bfFVk3
— Strife Magazine (@StrifeMagazine) August 2, 2017
Just a few days after that service, Chester Bennington “memorial packages” were appearing on eBay, bundling in several keepsakes from last Saturday’s memorial. A Twitter post from radio host Big Kris revealed on Tuesday that one listing had attracted 133 bidders, with the highest bid at $51,200. A second “memorial package” had the highest bid at $34,667 but had attracted only 12 interested bidders at the time Big Kris shared the eBay screenshot.
Now, it appears that the memorial packages have been removed from eBay, and as TMZ noted, this was due to the company’s policy against selling items that “attempt to profit from tragedy.” TMZ’s sources added that the seller was notified and “educated” on the policy, and also warned by eBay that more severe consequences may take place if they commit the same offense in the future.
With the situation apparently under control, one has to wonder who would sell Chester Bennington memorial items on eBay, straight from a private service where only friends and family were invited. TMZ cited sources close to the late Linkin Park vocalist, who speculated that it may have been an individual who had previously worked with the band in production. The publication’s sources also noted that the person had previously sold Linkin Park merchandise via eBay, though it wasn’t made clear what those items were.
[Featured Image by Rich Fury/Getty Images]
