Bad Wolves will not appear on Skillet’s fall Comatose 20th anniversary tour, ending a booking that was announced only a week earlier.
The multi-platinum hard rock act had been slated to open alongside Escape the Fate on Skillet’s U.S. run, which begins Sept. 30 at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, N.Y., and continues through Nov. 10 at House of Blues in Orlando. The dates were billed as the live debut of Bad Wolves’ latest lineup, led by new vocalist Sara “KILLBOY” Skinner.
Skinner addressed the change in a video posted Aug. 25. She said Skillet’s camp asked her not to discuss the situation publicly, but that a statement was necessary.
“Skillet announced us on their tour, and their fans had a field day doing very extensive research that their booking agents and management did not do,” she said. “Upon their findings, I am a trans, OnlyFans, bitch. Now unfortunately, only one of those things is true. Have fun finding out and we will see you on the next tour.”
Bad Wolves followed with a social media note of support for the band’s “trans and LGBTQ family.” Skinner did not specify which of the claims was accurate. Reporting since the video has generally treated the OnlyFans account as the element she confirmed and the other allegation as false.
Skillet has not issued a public comment. Loudwire and other outlets said they requested a response from the band’s representatives and did not receive one. Without an official explanation from the headliner, the available account comes from Skinner: that a segment of Skillet’s audience objected after digging into her background, and that Bad Wolves were then taken off the bill.
The fallout landed at a sensitive moment for Bad Wolves. After years of lineup turnover — including the departures of co-founders Doc Coyle and Kyle Konkiel and earlier vocalists Tommy Vext and Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz — the band rebuilt around founding drummer John Boecklin, guitarist AJ Rebollo (ex-Issues), bassist Derek Bolman (ex-Sworn In), and Skinner. They introduced that roster in late June with the single and video “Paint It Red.” The Skillet dates were meant to be the first test of that chapter on the road.
Skillet, long one of the most commercially successful Christian rock bands in the mainstream, is touring in support of the 20th anniversary of 2006’s Comatose and a new EP, After the Storm, due Oct. 9. Escape the Fate remains on the itinerary. Ticket listings still show the September–November run moving forward.
For Bad Wolves, the next live dates are unannounced. Skinner closed her statement by pointing ahead rather than lingering on the canceled support slot: the band will see fans “on the next tour.”
Whether Skillet eventually addresses the decision remains an open question. Until then, the record stands as a booking that lasted days, a video statement that filled the silence, and a fall tour that will proceed without the act that was supposed to open it.
