Chester Bennington’s son, Jaime Bennington, has come forward with serious allegations against his family, revealing disturbing claims of abuse and manipulation.
In a series of Instagram stories, Jaime shared, “My family on both sides hid my nephew from me and sheltered my abuser. Isaiah has threatened to kill me multiple times over the past 7 years. On the night of Talinda’s wedding to Michael Friedman, Isaiah beat me for hours.” He went on to describe the horrifying events, stating that his brother Tyler witnessed the abuse and tried to get help from Talinda and Michael, but they didn’t intervene. “When I returned from Hawaii, I cut off my family completely and asked Trilogy if I could stay with them for a while. Isaiah beat me so severely that I couldn’t breathe properly for months.”
Jaime also revealed that Talinda was aware of the abuse. He recounted a conversation from January 2020, in which he confronted Talinda about what had happened. “I told Talinda what had occurred, and she told me she already knew. Tyler had informed her the same night. I was stunned. When I asked her why she hadn’t stepped in as a mother, she claimed she had her own life to worry about,” Jaime said. He expressed his shock at her response, questioning how long she had been manipulating him. According to Jaime, Talinda admitted that she had psychologically and emotionally manipulated him throughout their entire relationship.
Jaime continued, “I demanded that Talinda finally admit that Isaiah had been allowed to get away with everything, while I wasn’t allowed to make a single mistake. She admitted it. After acknowledging that I was telling the truth, Talinda told me, ‘You are the easiest one to shut up. You know how difficult your brother and father are. It’s either silence you or deal with them.’” Jaime claimed that the manipulation had gone on for 16 years, a pattern he said began in 2004, the same year he would eventually cut ties with his family due to the abuse he experienced.
Just a week before, Jaime had shared another troubling story, revealing that Talinda had filed a restraining order against him in the past year. In his posts, Jaime detailed the terms of the order, including requests for him to be banned from California, and for a domestic violence (DV) order to be placed on additional family members, including his siblings and Talinda’s roommate’s daughter. He explained that he represented himself in court, but was not allowed to present any evidence to support his case. Despite this, the court ruled in favor of Talinda, granting a modified DV order. “The court decided to impose a 100-yard stay-away order, remove my siblings and Amanda’s daughter from the protected people list, and limit the order to just one year. Talinda Bennington had gotten away with lying under oath,” Jaime stated.
The relationship between Jaime and Talinda appeared amicable to the public, but things reportedly began to deteriorate after Linkin Park’s return to the spotlight. Jaime expressed his displeasure with the band’s decision to reunite with a new lead singer and criticized Emily Armstrong for trying to imitate Chester’s style. Meanwhile, Talinda appeared to support the band’s decision, publicly showing her approval on social media by commenting with a heart and fire emoji under the announcement post and sharing it on her Instagram story.
Jaime’s allegations paint a deeply troubling picture of his relationship with his family, raising questions about the dynamics within the Bennington household.