Entertainment
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders take My Chemical Romance to court
The squad's owner alleges dancers at the band's Hollywood Bowl shows wore lookalike DCC uniforms in a staged gunfight, and asks a Texas court to stop it.
What to know
- **Oct. 23, 2026:** Pro Silver Star, the company that owns the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders brand, asked a district court in Dallas County, Texas, for a temporary restraining order and an injunction against My Chemical Romance, NBC News and TODAY reported.
- The filing alleges that dancers at the band's Oct. 21 Hollywood Bowl show wore near-copies of the DCC uniform, then took part in a staged firefight in which they were "depicted being shot."
- The company says it has no problem with the band's music or message, only the costumes. It is also seeking unspecified damages, according to TheWrap.
- No ruling has been reported. The band did not respond to requests for comment from several outlets.
One of the most recognizable uniforms in American sports is at the center of a fight with one of the defining bands of the emo era. The company behind the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders has gone to court in Texas to stop My Chemical Romance from putting dancers in lookalike outfits during its current Los Angeles concert run, according to NBC News. The band has not publicly responded, and no judge has ruled. Here is what the filing says, what it asks for, and why a costume choice turned into a legal dispute.
*This report draws on reporting by NBC News, TODAY, TheWrap and Rolling Stone; full list of sources below.*
What happened on stage
My Chemical Romance opened a run of shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The concerts are part of a tour marking the 20th anniversary of "The Black Parade," the band's 2006 album, TODAY reported.
During "Teenagers," one of the album's best-known songs, a line of female dancers came out dressed in outfits that, according to the court filing, matched the signature look of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: white boots and a white vest with blue stars. Fan videos from the night show the dancers performing a synchronized routine with blue-and-white pom-poms, TODAY reported.
The filing then describes a darker turn. According to the document, as quoted by TheWrap, the production is set in a fictional dictatorship and features pyrotechnics and armed conflict. The costumed performers were handed rifles, joined a staged firefight and were then shown being shot, the filing says. TODAY reported that the filing describes them "crawling off the stage."
Clips of the moment spread quickly online. Fan posts embedded by Rolling Stone and TheWrap show that some concertgoers loved the sequence.
What the cheerleaders' owner is asking for
Pro Silver Star filed a motion on Friday, Oct. 23, in district court in Dallas County, Texas, according to NBC News and TODAY. It asks for a temporary restraining order, a fast, short-term court order, along with a longer-lasting injunction that would bar the band from using the costumes on stage.
TheWrap, which reviewed the documents, reported that the company is also seeking monetary damages, though no amount was specified.
The core claim is about confusion and reputation. The filing argues that concertgoers and people online believed the dancers were the real Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and said so in social media posts that are still circulating, according to the filing as quoted by NBC News, TheWrap and Rolling Stone. It also argues that the squad's image, which it ties to decades of entertaining American troops, was dragged into an on-stage gunfight, TODAY reported.
"Not litigious": what the filing says it is not asking for
The company went out of its way to narrow its complaint. In language quoted by NBC News, TheWrap and Rolling Stone, Pro Silver Star said it is "not litigious" and has no objection to the band's music, artistic goals or message.
According to the filing, the company is not asking the band to change its setlist, story, politics or choreography, or even to drop armed performers from the show. It wants only for those performers to stop wearing the DCC uniform, and it points out that there are countless other costume designs the band could choose, Rolling Stone reported.
Did the band refuse to change?
That is what the company alleges. According to TheWrap and Rolling Stone, Pro Silver Star says it contacted the band and asked it to stop using the uniforms, and the band declined. The filing argues that the refusal threatens lasting harm to the reputation and goodwill of the DCC brand and left the company with no choice but to sue.
The band's side of the story has not been heard. Representatives for My Chemical Romance did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC News, TODAY or TheWrap.
Rolling Stone reported that fan video from the band's Friday night show, after the filing, appeared to show the cheerleader-style dancers back on stage in the same costumes. NewsCubby has not independently verified that video.
Why a uniform can be protected
The legal idea at the heart of the case is "trade dress." In plain terms, trade dress is the overall look of a product or brand, such as its colors, shapes and design, when that look tells the public who is behind it. Like a trademark, it can be protected if copying it would confuse people about who made something or who endorses it.
Pro Silver Star argues that the DCC uniform is protectable trade dress that no one may use without permission, according to TheWrap. The filing says the uniform has been an instantly recognizable symbol for more than half a century and that the company has spent decades investing in it and policing unauthorized uses.
That claim has history behind it. In a well-known 1979 case, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Inc. v. Pussycat Cinema, a federal appeals court allowed the squad to block an adult film from using a lookalike uniform. Every case turns on its own facts, though, and a concert performance with an artistic message raises different questions. A judge will decide whether the uniform is protected in this context and whether audiences were likely to be confused.
A famous squad and a famous album
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have been a pop-culture fixture since the 1970s, and their profile grew again with Netflix's documentary series "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders," which premiered in 2024.
My Chemical Romance rose out of New Jersey in the early 2000s and became one of the biggest bands of the emo and alternative wave, with songs such as "Helena," "Teenagers" and "Welcome to the Black Parade." "The Black Parade," released in 2006, was the band's commercial peak, TODAY noted. The group, made up of Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Mikey Way and Frank Iero, according to TheWrap, split in 2013 and reunited at the end of 2019.
The anniversary shows lean into theater. The 2006 album tells the story of a dying character known as the Patient. On this tour, the filing says, the production adds a fictional dictatorship, pyrotechnics and staged armed conflict.
What happens next
A Texas judge will decide whether to grant the temporary restraining order and whether to schedule a hearing on the longer injunction. Neither step had been reported as of Saturday night. Any court order would apply only to the costumes, not to the band's songs or the rest of its show.
The timing matters. The band was scheduled to play the Hollywood Bowl again on Saturday, Oct. 24, and twice more over Halloween weekend, according to NBC News. Whether the cheerleader-style costumes appear at those shows, and whether the band responds publicly, are the next things to watch.
NewsCubby will update this story if the court rules or if My Chemical Romance comments.
*This report draws on reporting by NBC News, TODAY, TheWrap and Rolling Stone. It summarizes their reporting in our own words; quotes are attributed to the people and outlets that published them.*
