old Divine Heresy photo with Cazares (lright), Cummings (center)
Clearly, something went down between Divine Heresy guitarist Dino Cazares and ex-Divine Heresy singer Tommy “Vext” Cummings (now in Snot) in San Bernardino on July 13 at the Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour. Punches were thrown, police responded, lawsuits will be filed. But after talking at length with both Cazares and Cummings we’re no closer to finding out what really happened.
Maybe it doesn’t matter who’s to blame. No one was severely injured, no property was damaged and it was all over in a matter of minutes. However, the incident illustrates how vehemently both men defend their sides of the story and how completely opposite those perspectives are. This isn’t just a case of he said, she said where both individuals shout, “He started it.” Cazares and Cummings both insist that the other has a vendetta against him and that the only way to resolve the situation is to put it in the hands of the courts.
Both artists are currently assembling legal cases and each says he fears for his life. In fact, both compare the situation to the friction that developed between Dimebag Darrell and Phil Anselmo and worry that some insane fan of the other will take matters into his own hands and enact some sort of vigilante justice.
Instead of presenting the incident as a straightforward, unbiased news story, we decided the most sensible way to handle this mess is to allow Cazares and Cummings to state their cases in essay form and to let you guys decide what to make of it all: Click “more” to read lengthy statements by Cazares and Cummings.
Statement by Dino Cazares:
Obviously, everybody knows that Tommy assaulted me in Poughkeepsie, New York at a show. We’ve known Tommy for a couple years now and he does have a very violent history and I definitely feared he was going to react that way again. So whenever I do public appearances he could possibly be at, I hire security. Well, in San Bernardino everybody was having a great time and we didn’t see him at all, so I assumed he wasn’t there. So, 20 minutes before the incident happened I told security there wasn’t going to be any problem. It was between 11:30 and midnight and Slipknot were on their last couple songs. I said, “Me and my wife are gonna go home. You guys can go home and we’ll walk ourselves out.”
So, we sent security home and we were saying our goodbyes in the VIP section and we were on our way out. As we were leaving, we felt someone throw a beer at us and it splashed all over the place. And we were like, “Ahh, it’s kind of a party backstage so maybe somebody’s having a good time throwing beer.” Me and my wife turn around. I’m holding her hand. Who steps right behind us? Tommy Vext.
I had about a second to react and all I could think was, “Oh, my f—ing god, I’m done.” The guy’s, like, six-foot-three, weights 250 pounds of muscle, is well known for working out constantly. And he hit me. No words were said, nothing. He hit me, and the one thing I could do was cover myself up to protect myself. I didn’t go down or nothin’, I just put my hands up and he kept swinging at me. And he grabbed my hair and pulled me down. He was giving me uppercuts and I was trying to get away but I couldn’t.
My wife was the only one who came to my defense. She was trying to grab his arms to stop him from hitting me, and she got hit. By that time, he was still grabbing my hair and swinging at me, and my wife was still holding his arm trying to defend me. Then security guards came and knocked everybody down. They tackled Tommy. I went down with them and he was still holding my hair. My wife went down too and she got scratches on her knees from falling over. Tommy hit his head on the concrete, I landed on my knees. A chunk of my hair got pulled out. And they separated the two parties. Me and Jennifer got up. They were still holding Tommy down. And I told security, “She needs a fuckin’ medic now.”
So, they took her to the paramedic tent and she got looked at to make sure she didn’t have a concussion. Pictures were taken. And basically the Sheriff’s department said, “Look, you can either both walk your separate ways or I’ll take everybody to jail.” Obviously, none of us want to go to jail, so we decided to walk our separate ways and we decided we’ll handle this legally. We just wanted to get away from him.
We feared that Tommy was going to react that way again, so we asked the sheriff if he would walk us to our car. So he did and Tommy was shouting out, “Yeah, motherf—er, you have to hire security.” He was taunting me and talking s—. Tommy’s well aware that I hire security because I fear him. Look, I really don’t hate the guy. He got fired from Divine Heresy. I don’t hate him. But I do fear that he will react that way again. A lot of people thought I was dumb and I was overacting by hiring security to protect me from him, and now they know I’m right. And now things will have to happen legally. We have pictures of all the injuries and medical records and we’re waiting to get the incident report back. I sustained a bruise to the side of my head. My ear’s all swollen. Jennifer’s got a black eye and bruises up and down her body.
After this story comes out, he’s probably going to be upset and he’s gonna want to attack me again. There are video documentations of Tommy admitting he assaulted me the first time. So there’s a lot of evidence against him. My wife put a blog on our MySpace page and we found out there are two other individuals who have restraining orders against the guy. Of course, there are two sides to every story and I’m sure Tommy is going to come up with some kind of story to try to protect himself. That’s only natural. That’s why we decided we’ll just let the judge handle it.
He’s got to cover his tracks somehow, but it’s too late. He has a history. He has a record of violence and there’s documentation, pictures and witnesses. The guy is going down. But even then, I’m still scared. Maybe he’ll just get a slap on the wrist or get some probation time or something. And just because you have a restraining order on somebody doesn’t really stop somebody from wanting to do something.
I don’t know why he’s so pissed off at me, but I have gotten a lot more threats since the Tommy video came out on [MetalInjection.net]. That’s when I first hired security. Look, I’m 41 years old. I’m fucking fat. I can’t fight. And he’s 25 years old, he’s in great shape. The guy works out. I don’t want to get killed. I don’t want to get beat up. So I try to protect myself. Ever since the whole Dimebag Darrell thing, it’s really scary because you don’t know what people are gonna do. And people could react to what they read on the Internet or to somebody else’s story. They can react violently. And I know that’s how Tommy reacts, and that’s why I try to protect myself.
I don’t know if Tommy wants to throw his career away or what. I don’t think he understands what the repercussions are of his actions and being in these kinds of situations. He was just hired as the singer in Snot, and if you’re in that kind of a position, it seems to me you would do whatever you can to maintain a low profile.
Me and my wife have not slept since the situation and we might have to move. Me and her are trying to start a family and now I got this hanging over our heads and it kind of makes you all emotional. I don’t want to die ’cause I fired this guy.
Statement by Tommy “Vext” Cummings:
Dino and I were both crossing the VIP section at the same time. We hadn’t seen each other since the incident in Poughkeepsie when I left the band. We bumped into each other. We were face to face. A few words were said. It was like:
Cazares: “Get the f— out of my way.”
Cummings: “No, you get the f— out of my way.”
Cazares: “You’re a f—ing p—y.”
Then pushing ensued and a couple punches were thrown. I got hit in the back of the head and then we both rolled down to the ground. Some tables and chairs got pushed down. And then Live Nation security came in and a couple bruises and scrapes were the result of everyone being pulled off.
From eyewitness accounts, we determined that Jennifer had jumped on top of me while Dino was on top of me. And when security lifted her off, that’s when she fell down. I have witness accounts that say I never punched her. It was a pathetic fight. It wasn’t even a fight. I mean, look at me. If I really hit him, you know what he would look like? And if I had wanted to hit Jennifer, I mean… She’s a woman. Her face would be broken. You know? It’s just ridiculous. And it’s pathetic that people will buy into this.
At this point, this is just shameful and embarrassing and it’s sad that two grown men had to lower themselves to this level. I just want to be through with Dino. I don’t ever want to have anything to do with him again. He’s called and threatened the Snot shows to [Snot guitarist] Mikey Doling and other members of my new band. And, basically, he told me he was going to make sure I would never work in this town again a long time ago and he’s making good on his attempt to preclude my existence. It’s just really a shame. They’re trying to make me out to look like a monster and they want me to be hurt. I know he does. He told me so, and it’s sad.
I know that he knew the press release about me joining Snot was coming out Monday, and I’m sure that he couldn’t stand that Divine Heresy are not finding a singer and that was his excuse for antagonizing me. We know each other well. He knows how to push my buttons and he knows what to say and I fed into it. I wish I had just walked away and saved myself the headache.
It was all childish and stupid. And now I’m getting death threats. Jennifer is posting my fiancée’s and my family’s information on the Internet, trying to contact me and find out where I live. Divine Heresy’s manager is contacting friends of my fiancée. We have openly heard him on speaker phone saying that someone should put a hit on me and I should be murdered and stabbed. And they’re trying to get friends to press charges and help them, but they don’t realize that they’re friends of ours. These are all statements that are going to be sworn. This is going to be bad.
It’s a despicable disgrace that they would have to go to this length to try and hurt me. This could all end up like the Phil Anselmo/Dimebag thing. And my question is, “Dino when are you gonna be over it? When are you gonna be happy? When I’m f—in’ six feet in the ground? When one of your random fans comes to me and kills me? Is that what you want, for the next Nathan Gale to run onstage and put a f—in’ slug in my head?”
And he’s saying I’m threatening him? I’ve never threatened him. I don’t even speak to him. I’ve been in the same restaurant as him and had my seats moved to the other side of the restaurant because I don’t want anything to do with him. He’s attempted to hire people, whose names I have, and who have openly admitted to me that he wanted them to jump me and physically hurt me.
He says I have a violent past? I’ve never been arrested in my life. I don’t know where he’s coming up with this stuff. It just sounds like more bull—t to fuel his story. And I don’t want to have anything to do with it. I’m ecstatic to be out of Divine Heresy. They’re a death metal band. I’m not a death metal singer. And I’m happy and as excited as can be to be playing with Snot. It’s a dream gig for me. And instead of being able to take this week and have everyone be happy for me, I have to do damage control on this whole propaganda. It’s just a disgrace. The Cazareses are a disgrace to the metal community and the music scene.
Dino was thrown out of Fear Factory. He’s been thrown out of every band he’s done. Then he started a new band with a bunch of young kids and he still can’t keep the people in his band. And just so you know, I quit Divine Heresy, I wasn’t fired. Dino is the violent one. He’s assaulted [Divine Heresy drummer] Tim Yeung. The first night I met Tim, Dino got drunk at the Rainbow and beat him up outside of his car on the way back to his house. I thought the band was going to be broken up.
I didn’t want this to go into a public arena. I just wanted this to be over. And my family’s in jeopardy now. I’ve never been one to get the police involved – especially over a schoolyard f—in’ scrap match – but this has gotten to the point where I’m going to have to let the courts decide. I’m getting threats now from Dino’s family members saying they’re gonna shut down the Snot shows and that they’re gonna throw bottles and someone’s gonna shoot me onstage. I’m not okay with that. I’m about to go down and file a police report and press charges. I’m building a case with character witnesses. Maybe that’s the only way to end this s—.
