New Jersey metal band Reign goes viral after firing two members for ‘unforeseen and disgusting reasons’

New Jersey metal band Reign have found themselves at the center of an unexpected wave of attention after posting an appeal for replacement members following the removal of two bandmates for what they described as “unforeseen and disgusting reasons.”

What was, on paper, another routine update to their Instagram following of around 7,000 quickly became something much larger. One of the band’s recent posts reportedly reached more than two million accounts, catching the group off guard and sending commenters into a frenzy over the vague, high-drama language of the announcement.

The reaction has invited the sort of Fleetwood Mac comparisons that tend to follow public band implosions, especially when the details arrive in fragments. In the first statement, remaining members CJ, Aiden and drummer Cork said:

“Due to unforeseen and disgusting reasons, Ryan and Aubrey are no longer in Reign. Their actions in zero way are a reflection of the morals of the band and everyone who is involved with the band.

“The things going on behind the scenes that were brought to the light was simply unacceptable and THAT is the honest and genuine truth. Now that we look to the future we are looking for a new vocalist and bassist because this is 100 per cent not the end of this band and we plan to move the same way as before,” the statement continued, with a promise of more detail in a later post.

That first message did exactly what a message like that usually does online: it raised more questions than it answered. The follow-up comment, framed as “context for those who ask/assume the wrong stuff,” finally spelled out at least part of what had happened. Reign said:

“Aubrey cheated on our drummer (Cork) with Ryan months ago and kept the relationship a secret for months.

“As soon as we found out we decided it was best to kick out both members because at the time (Tuesday) they were still together and were persistent on being a thing. We kicked them because these are supposed to be people that we can trust and the fact they did that to our drummer was enough for us to do what we did (that’s not the only reason).”

The band then pointed to “other horrific things that Ryan has done to other women” that had surfaced, saying they wanted “absolutely nothing to do with him” as a result. By that point, the story had already escaped the band’s own orbit. In a later post, Reign told new followers: “We seriously have no fucking clue why this is blowing up the way it is,” alongside a screenshot showing the account’s dashboard and the post passing one million accounts.

For a band formed in 2002, the timing is awkward in a very specific way. Reign are still scheduled to play Chaos & Carnage at Pennsylvania venue Reverb this Friday, May 15, and they now appear set to do so without a bassist or vocalist. The group has been openly scrambling to fill those slots, ending one post with a blunt appeal: “Please hit us up and share this all over.”