Artist News

Camila Cabello leaves Fifth Harmony, as angry statements fly back and forth

By | Published on Tuesday 20 December 2016

Fifth Harmony

Fifth Harmony announced yesterday that Camila Cabello has left the group. Initially looking slightly acrimonious, it quickly became massively acrimonious, as contradictory statements shot back and forth.

Cabello last appeared with the group at Y100’s Jingle Ball in Miami on Sunday, outwardly giving no hint that she was about to leave, although there have been rumours of a rift for some time. An initial statement from the group suggested that it had been a surprise to the outfit’s other members too, and that they had been informed of her departure by her management, rather than by Cabello herself. Although subsequent statements have revealed that this was actually a long time coming.

The group were formed on the second series of the US version of ‘X-Factor’, signing a joint deal with Sony labels Syco and Epic in early 2013. To date they have released two albums, 2015’s ‘Reflection’ and this year’s ‘7/27’, the latter going to number six in the UK chart.

In a statement posted on Facebook yesterday, Fifth Harmony said: “After four and a half years of being together, we have been informed by her representatives that Camila has decided to leave Fifth Harmony. We wish her well”.

They added that the remaining four members of the group “will continue on”.

“We are four strong, committed women who will continue with Fifth Harmony as well as our solo endeavours”, they said. “We are excited for our future, and we can’t wait for what the new year brings”.

As alluded to there, the various members have already embarked on their own solo projects outside the group. Cabello recently released a solo single with rapper Machine Gun Kelly, ‘Bad Things’. Prior to that, she released ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ with Shawn Mendes in 2015.

Firing back at the group, Cabello said in her own statement last night: “I was shocked to read the statement the Fifth Harmony [Facebook] account posted without my knowing. The girls were aware of my feelings through the long, much needed conversations about the future we had during the tour”.

She went on: “Saying that they were just informed through my representatives that I was ‘leaving the group’ is simply not true. Just like the other girls said in their statement about their plans, I had also planned to continue with my own solo endeavours in the new year, but I did not intend to end things with Fifth Harmony this way”.

So now it looks like she was kicked out, and that it was she who wasn’t expecting Monday’s announcement. But this version of events was also quickly contested.

In a new statement, which Fifth Harmony insisted would be their last, they said: “Over the past several months we have consistently made every effort to sit down and discuss the future of Fifth Harmony with Camila. We have spent the past year and a half (since her initial solo endeavour) trying to communicate to her and her team all of the reasons why we felt Fifth Harmony deserved at least one more album of her time, given the success of the last year that we’d all worked so hard for”.

“We called for group meetings, which she refused. We asked [Epic boss] LA Reid and the label to step in and try to set up meeting, which again she refused”, they continued. “We even went as far as group counselling, which she did not show up to. So no, after of rejection from her and her team, these supposed ‘lengthy conversations’ in fact next happened, although we pleaded”.

Despite their initial suggestion that Cabello’s departure had been a surprise, they added in the second statement: “In mid-November, we were informed via her manager that Camila was leaving the group. At that time we were informed that 18 Dec would be her final performance with Fifth Harmony”.

Saying that they were “truly hurt” by this, they reiterated again that they will continue as a four piece into 2017.



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