Fightstar not dumped but dropped

As if the bungling blunder of getting drunk and groping your former colleague's girlfriend wasn't bad enough, why prolong the agony by electing to give interviews about an incident that might be best for those involved if they forgot it, and that has already been forgotten by the rest of us?

Still, for what it's worth Charlie Simpson claims "nothing happened" between him and Emma Griffiths, currently in the role of Matt Willis, Charlie's old mate in Busted. He was, you see, very very drunk:

“I was so excited. Fightstar had been nominated for Best British Band [at the Kerrang awards] and loads of my heroes were there. So I got absolutely shitfaced. But nothing happened with me and Emma. If you saw the picture you can draw the wrong conclusion.

“I love my girlfriend to bits. I’d never do anything to hurt her. I texted Matt the next morning and said, ‘Mate, you know how these things work. It is bull.’ But I did get a massive rollocking from my girlfriend.”

It's understandable. Fightstar being nominated for a prize from Kerrang must have convinced him he'd died and gone to a world where he was respected and treated seriously - and in such a bizzaro world, he probably imagined he could get away with anything. Clearly, it's all Kerrang's fault for taking the piss out of Fightstar with a comedy nomination in the first place.

We love the "it's all bull" text, too - all bull, except, erm, yes, I did get pissed and attempted to dry hump your girlfriend in front of the press and Alice Cooper.

More importantly, perhaps, Fightstar have been dumped by Island Records. Or, as Charlie puts it:

Earlier this week we decided to tear up the contract. They wanted a pop album and we didn’t.

“I’ve put so much into this band I don’t want to start compromising now.

“We’re thinking about going to America. The market for our stuff is much bigger over there. It’s the first time I’ve been totally free since Busted. I’m spreading my wings at last.

“I didn’t want to die and leave Busted as my legacy. I proved myself with Fightstar’s first album. Now people either like Fightstar or they don’t — there’s no issues about my Busted past.

“My life now could not be better. I’m living my dream. I’d be happy on minimum wage doing this.”

"We decided to tear up the contract" - in other words, Island could see that Fightstar weren't going to go anywhere in their current form, and refused to put in any more money unless Simpson started to make music people wanted to listen to.

music charlie simpson matt willis fightstar busted emma griffiths