Hoods vocalist Mikey Hood has denied transphobia allegations after UK and European venues cancelled the band’s shows.
Hoods lost a run of UK and European dates this month after a clip from a 2025 performance resurfaced online. Their vocalist has now responded at length.
Mike “Mikey Hood” Mraz posted a video statement to social media on August 8 rejecting the accusations against him and his band. It followed cancellations in Birmingham, Bournemouth, Ipswich and Manchester, with venues and promoters citing an onstage comment that many took to be transphobic.
The Music Room in Ipswich announced its decision publicly: “Thursday’s show is now cancelled. Swipe for more. We do not tolerate any kind of Racism, Sexism, Homophobia or Transphobia at the venue I created so the local alternative community has a place to go and be themselves. Thanks to those who made us aware of this. Our next show is on Friday 14th August with Collapse The Sky, Paradis & Primal Damnation. DISPUTE will still be playing at The Smokehouse on Saturday and they too weren’t aware of the incident until this morning.”
The Anvil in Bournemouth removed the band from a bill and kept the rest of the show running: “Late last night a video was brought to our attention featuring Hoods with some extremly transphobic content said by one of the band members.”
“Here at Anvil we would never knowingly support any bands who act in this way. We have always been an inclusive venue and we pride ourselves on that, there is no place for this behaviour in our, or any communtity.”
“With that being said Hoods have been removed from this show and will no longer feature.”
“We have initiated refunds to those who bought tickets. We will still have a show with Brick By Brick and Give em Blood (as they have no invlovement in thie video) and will set up a spereate ticket link for that today at a cheaper price.”
“If any local bands would like to join this line up please let us know.”
Promoter Surprise You’re Dead Music, which pulled dates of its own, said there would never be room for transphobia in the scene.
In his video, Mraz described the comment as an inside joke about earplugs that had been misread. He traced it to a habit picked up on tour, and said the clip in question was filmed at Capital City Fest at Goldfields in Roseville, California on August 2, 2025.
“…In 2025 we were on the East Coast, we were on tour with Brick By Brick… And we were in a club one night, and I found some little tampons in the men’s room. So I didn’t have my ear plugs, so I walked out and I had these [tampons] in my ears — [it was a] loud show… And one of the dudes was like, ‘Yo what the f**k is in your ears?’ I said, ‘They’re tampons. Earplugs, not rearplugs.’ Just making a general joke. Tasteless as it may be, I was trying to be funny,” he said in part (as transcribed by theprp).
He said the same thing happened before the Roseville set, and that he retold the story from the stage.
His denial was direct: “In no way, shape or form am I transphobic, nor is my band. And we’ll get onto that in a minute as well. So this video goes out. Then the next tour, we are on tour with Southpaw, and we are getting a lot of feedback, a lot of negative feedback, and we explained ourselves. And mind you, this is in 2025. We’re almost at f**king 2027 at this point.”
Mraz argued the matter had already been dealt with in the United States more than a year ago, and that he had addressed it publicly at the time.
“So it’s been over a year and a half, so we already went through this in the states, only for it to be rehashed in Europe. And I’m not sure what the f**k.”
He also said the fallout cost the band a member.
“And during all this horrible s**t, our beloved drummer of six-and-a-half years got so much pressure from his friends in Reno that he quit the band. Brian, we love you, by the way, and I hope you’re doing well. And one day, I’ll talk to you. I love you, man, Brian. We all love you. We miss you, but we’re doing good. I hope you’re doing well.”
He pointed to the band’s stand-in personnel as evidence against the charge.
“So, 20 days later, we had to find a drummer at the last minute, And so we went to Colombia, did these shows, and ironically, we have fill-in members. One of our fill-in members is non-binary. Think about that. Do you think that person would ever fathom the idea of going or playing with the band that he’s been friends with for years now, and knowing that they were in that mindset of hatred, it’s not logical, and it’s… there’s no sense to be made there.”
Mraz apologised to fans across the cancelled dates rather than for the remark itself.
“So, with that said, I will apologize. I apologize to all the people I didn’t get to see. All my Belgian friends, all my Dutch friends, all my German friends that we were coming back to see, all my friends in the United Kingdom. I’m not gonna say any names, but I’ve got 30 years of touring under my belt with people I love all over the world, and I cherish you guys so much. And it was nice to reconnect with a lot of you.”
The statement also addressed photographs circulating of him in a Donald Trump shirt from 2020.
“And also, if you’re going to post a picture of me in 2020 wearing a f**king Trump shirt, get over it. At this point, I don’t care who you voted for, nor should you give a f**k who I voted for. I’m not that important. And at the time, it’s like you got to think of it. It’s the same f**king bird. They both suck. But no way in f**king hell was I gonna vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. So, with that said, I stand by who I vote for. And if you don’t like it, grow up. That’s petty.”
He closed on what he said hardcore had always meant to him.
“And other than that, we f**king love you. And to the communities far and wide, I don’t care what flavor you are, as long as you’re cool, as long as you give each other respect — and keep in mind — all these years we’ve been protectors of the people who are different than us in the hardcore, and that’s why we became hardcore kids in the first place is to protect each other. The strong in hardcore always protected the weak.”
Hoods formed in Sacramento in 1994 around Mraz and have released records across three decades, including a period on Victory Records that ended in 2005 following a dispute over royalties and management. No further European dates have been announced.
