Band Why Don't We Cancels Tour and Announces 'Hiatus' Due to Legal Battle with Former Management
Frazer Harrison/Getty Why Don't We
Why Don't We are taking a break.
Amid a legal battle with former management company Signature Entertainment, the boy band announced a hiatus via social media and revealed the once-upcoming Good Times Only Tour is canceled.
"Due to unforeseen circumstances related to our ongoing legal battle to emancipate ourselves from the production company we signed with when we started our Why Don't We journey, we regretfully have to cancel our 2022 Good Times Only Tour," wrote the group made up of Daniel Seavey, Zach Herron, Jack Avery, Jonah Marais and Corbyn Besson in a statement.
"All we ever want to do in our careers is make great music and perform for all you lovely people," continued the statement. "In light of this announcement, Why Don't We is officially going on hiatus."
The note concluded, "Your love and support means everything to us 5 guys. We love you!"
Along with the statement, Why Don't We shared parts of a cease and desist letter they claim to have received from Signature, which blocks them from accepting a deal "with any promoter or venue for this tour."
The hiatus announcement arrives nearly a year after Why Don't We shared a lengthy statement accusing former manager, Signature's David Loeffler, of "mental, emotional and financial abuse" — without explicitly naming him.
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Posted to Instagram in September 2021, the statement came two weeks after one of their managers, Randy Phillips, sued to remove Loeffler — his business partner — from the management team. It was also posted weeks after the group petitioned the California Labor Commission to throw out its contract with Signature Entertainment for violating the Talent Agencies Act, according to Billboard.
"As many of you are aware, the unfortunate truth of the mental, emotional and financial abuse we have suffered at the hands of our production company has recently come to light," the group wrote, referring to a recent lawsuit in which Phillips accused Loeffler of "nightmarish behavior."
RELATED: Why Don't We Accuses Management of 'Emotional Abuse' and 'Malnourishment:' We Became 'Prisoners'
Paras Griffin/Getty Why Don't We
Why Don't We continued, "While our initial instinct was to wait for the storm to pass (as we have been conditioned to do), we have matured to the point where we now realize that suffering in silence is no longer an option, it is not healthy for either us or our fans."
The statement also claimed the band needed to share their truth to shine a light on the "verbal abuse, malnourishment and ultimate control" they faced as "young teens" at the "price of success."
Seavy, Herron, Avery, Marais and Besson then delved into how "impressionable and trusting" they were when they entered the group as teens as they began to live together under the supervision of a manager in a house where they "would eventually become prisoners."
"He would not only live with us during the day but controlled us 24/7, setting an alarm that would go off if any door or window was opened," the statement read. "We were not given the security code to the alarm, essentially making us hostages in our own home."
Alexander Tamargo/Getty Why Don't We
"Food was restricted to the point that some band members developed eating disorders," the group wrote in the Instagram post. "We had to sneak food in and hide it in our dresser. We were verbally berated almost every day and alienated from our friends and families."
"We will no longer be silenced and we look forward to finally closing the chapter on this traumatic stage in our lives by turning the page to our truth," concluded the statement. "Our commitment remains to our music, to our label, and most of all to our fans who we cherish and draw strength from as we find out way into this journey."
Lawyers for Phillips, Loeffler and Why Don't We did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Why Don't We announced The Good Times Only Tour, set to promote 2021's The Good Times and the Bad Ones album, in March 2022. Due to the legal battle with Loeffler, the on-sale time for tickets was postponed from its original April 8 date.
The tour was then rerouted and set to begin July 27 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before hitting major venues across the country including New York's Radio City Music hall and Los Angeles' Microsoft Theater prior to its cancellation.
