Panda (band) - Controversy

Controversy

After the scandal, reporters have since mentioned this to the band every time they are interviewed. In the interview published on February 31, 2006, on Versus, a T.V. show from Telehit, when they asked questions about the plagiarism, the band members show up on the defensive and respond in contradictory ways. For example, Kross, drummer for the band states: "But we didn't steal, it's was coincidentally, I don't know... It was not done purposely, it was not made with any malicious intent, so I don't know, the subconscious betrays you ..."

With the release of their fourth album Amantes Sunt Amentes and the growth in popularity of the band on MTV in other countries, they do not avoid the topic, but prefer to change the topic. Ricardo Trevino, bassist for the band said: "There are people who say: You either love or hate panda. I think that those who love us are the majority, so why would we argue about these things?"

The accusations of plagiarism caused many people to reject Panda. These groups call themselves Anti Pandas, and have expressed their position through different websites (YouTube, MySpace and Facebook), as well as festivals where Panda plays. The Anti Pandas say that the list of plagiarism of Panda stands at more than 35 songs.

Panda has been booed in different festivals, such as the 2007 edition of Rock'N'Exa, where the public threw bottles, trash, and other things at them while they played.

The same thing happened in 2008 at the Vive Latino, and the Third International Rock Festival in Rio, although they have an outgrowing fan movement in major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, not to mention most of Latin America and throughout the world.