Michael Pedicone, the drummer who was fired from My Chemical Romance over the weekend for allegedly stealing from the band, has issued a statement regarding his dismissal, insisting that the circumstances of his departure have been "twisted and misinterpreted" thanks to rumors on the internet.

"Almost as soon as I began touring with MCR I ran into problems with a member of the band's crew who I'll not name. The problems were many, big and small, but some of them were large enough that they began to greatly impact me and, by extension, my family," Pedicone said in a statement to Kerrang. "I'd reached my wits' end, and I made what was certainly the poorest decision of my life. Rather than address the issues that I had with the crew member in an open and honest manner, I tried to make them look irresponsible. My intention was to make this person look incompetent."

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Pedicone says that he had "no intention of profiting whatsoever" from the theft, and went on to thank the members of the band, their crew and their fans for his mostly positive experience as their touring drummer.

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