Sam Hodde / Getty Images / Kevin Winter

The company that owns the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders brand wants a court to stop My Chemical Romance from putting dancers in lookalike uniforms during a staged shootout. Pro Silver Star Ltd. sued the band and Live Nation Entertainment in Dallas County District Court on October 23, seeking a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction and monetary damages.

The dispute centers on a sequence introduced October 21 at the opening of the band’s 5-night Hollywood Bowl residency in Los Angeles. The production stages The Black Parade, released in October 2006, in the fictional dictatorship of Draag.

At the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance appeared at Spike TV’s 2008 Scream Awards on October 18, 2008. Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images.

During “Teenagers,” dancers performed a cheer routine in blue-and-white costumes. The filing describes shorts, a blue bolero, a white vest with stars and white boots as elements of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders uniform.

In the next song, “Disenchanted,” the dancers used prop rifles in a theatrical firefight with the regime’s soldiers. They acted out being shot and crawled offstage.

Dallas Cowboys cheerleader representative Lexie strikes a pose at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas during the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl on February 6, 2022. Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images.

Silver Star says it owns federally registered trademark rights in the uniform and has challenged unauthorized uses for more than 50 years. Its lawsuit alleges that the costumes led people to believe the actual cheerleaders were performing or had endorsed the show, and that associating the uniform with gun violence damages the brand.

“Audience members and online commentators understandably believed that the performers were the real Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and said so in social media posts that continue to circulate,” the filing says.

My Chemical Romance performs live, with the band’s theatrical stage production at the center of a lawsuit over lookalike Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader uniforms. Photo by Kevin Winter / Ethan Miller / Getty Images.

The company submitted screenshots from Instagram, TikTok and X, including posts tagging the real squad. One cited TikTok had about 21,600 likes and 1,863 shares. Cheerleader Kylie Dickson also addressed the performance in a TikTok that was later made private, calling it “extremely bizarre” and saying “it’s not us.”

Silver Star sent a cease-and-desist on October 22. The filing alleges the band refused to stop using the costumes, and footage from the October 23 show showed the dancers wearing them again.

The company says its requested restrictions concern the costumes. Its filing says it “takes no issue with MCR’s music, its artistic ambitions, or any message Defendants seek to convey.” It says the band can keep its story, setlist, choreography and armed performers, provided “those performers not wear the DCC Uniform while doing it.”

As of October 25, no ruling had been reported, and neither My Chemical Romance nor Live Nation had publicly commented. The claims remain untested, and no damages amount has been reported. The residency’s final 2 scheduled performances are October 30 and 31.

Thanks for reading Thought Catalog. Show us some love on Facebook, and discover more on our website.