Panic! At The Disco And Former Bassist Go At Each Other

The departure of former Panic! At The Disco bassist Brent Wilson has turned ugly since it was first announced last month.

As previously reported, Wilson left the band under mysterious circumstances. The group released a statement at the time, but now Wilson has spoken to MTV News to give Panic! fans his interpretation of what happened.

"I was kicked out of the band," he said in contrast to the message put out by his former mates that it was partially his decision. "It was 100 per cent a surprise to me.

"We were about to leave for a show in California, and they called me that night before and told me I was out of the band. The only reason they gave was that it was for 'musical purposes.' Everything was good and fine, we had just gotten back from a tour in Europe, and there had been no previous conversations about anyone leaving the band. I don't know why they chose me."

Guitarist Ryan Ross spoke on the matter last month, and said that the split was a result of "a decision we all came to as a band." Contrarily, Wilson claims that the matter "wasn't discussed at all" and that it was the band's drummer, Spencer Smith, who was the lone speaker during the call that had him cut. Frontman Brendon Urie and Ryan are rumoured to have been on speaker phone, but Wilson says, "they didn't say a word. They never even said they were sorry."

In rebuttal to Wilson's accusations, Smith replied to MTV News via email. His message claimed that Wilson "wasn't progressing musically with the band" and that he "did not write any of his bass parts on the record" or "record one note of bass on the record." Further insulting his former friend, Smith claimed, "We had to simplify some of the bass parts that were recorded because Brent could not play them live."

Wilson, 18, is also angered that he'll miss out on what he estimates to be $50,000 U.S. in earnings from the group's current tour. But Smith wrote that they essentially break even on tour due to high production costs and that they will "never make any decisions with this band based on money." Wilson wouldn't comment on whether he planned to pursue legal action against the band, but admitted that the whole process has been very difficult for him.

"I never thought my best friends would do this to me," he said.