Why Don’t We announced on Wednesday (July 6) that they are going on hiatus and canceling their upcoming tour following months of litigation between the group’s current and former managers.
In a statement shared to Instagram, the group wrote, “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.”
After sharing that ticket holders will receive refunds, Why Don’t We continued, “All we ever want to do in our careers is make great music and perform for all you lovely people. In light of this announcement, Why Don’t We is officially going on hiatus. Your love and support means everything to us 5 guys.”
The lawsuits between Why Don’t We’s current manager Randy Phillips and their former manager (and Phillips’ longtime partner) David Loeffler finds the two men suing each other over control of the band’s management as well as their companies Signature Entertainment and PDM III — which have the exclusive right to “direct and control” both the band and the solo careers of Why Don’t We’s five members, as well as of the group’s music, its masters and all its revenue streams.
According to a lawsuit Loeffler filed on Aug. 17, the five members of Why Don’t We — Jack Avery, Corbyn Besson, Zach Herron, Jonah Marais and Daniel Seavey — refused to sign a recording agreement with Atlantic Records or perform as a group until Phillips is reinstated as the group’s sole manager. Loeffler sued the bandmates for anticipatory breach of contract and suing Phillips for tortious interference with a business relationship.
Meanwhile, Phillips’s lawsuit alleges Loeffler abused members of Why Don’t We and “irreparably damaged” the management company they created by engaging in “nightmarish behavior,” including “daily verbal abuse, screaming at them at the top of his lungs, sometimes for 10-20 minutes.” Phillips’ suit also claims Loeffler “forced the five members to share two small bedrooms, even though the house had a spare, unused bedroom that was upstairs.”
The members of Why Don’t We detailed their alleged abuse in September via a social media post, which claimed the band was monitored 24/7, that their food was restricted and that they were regularly verbally abused. The group also petitioned the California Labor Commission to throw out its contract with Loeffler and management company Signature Entertainment for violating the state’s Talent Agencies Act.
In April, the band postponed ticket sales to their now-canceled tour “due to legal complications.”
