Billy Corgan accused of lying over reunion invite to ex-Smashing Pumpkins bassist

Former Smashing Pumpkins bassist D’arcy Wretzky has hit out at frontman Billy Corgan, accusing him of bullying and lying about inviting her to participate in a reunion.
Last month (Jan18) Billy revealed he would be reuniting three quarters of the band’s classic lineup, posting pictures of himself with original members James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlain.
D’arcy, the group’s fourth founder and bassist who Billy fired from the band in 1999, was notably absent from the posts and she later confirmed the band were reforming without her.
The band released a statement saying they had desperately tried to involve her, but in a new interview the 49-year-old rocker has accused them of lying about inviting her back into the band.
“He (Billy) says that he’s invited me to come out and play for all of these things, which is a complete lie,” she tells U.S. website Alternative Nation. “He’s never invited me to anything. In fact, my feelings were a little bit hurt because he did the solo album tour, and he didn’t tell me when it started.”
Her comments contradict a statement issued by the group which stated D’arcy had been, “invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred.”
Accusing the Tonight, Tonight singer, 50, of fostering an abusive culture within the group she added, “There’s so much ugliness. Billy loved to humiliate people and shame people in front of other people. It was incredibly abusive, and I was the only one who would fight back.”
D’arcy also confessed that she and Billy were “never friends” and accused him of throwing tantrums and “scapegoating” her before firing her from the group.
The Smashing Pumpkins website currently displays a countdown clock which expires on Thursday (15Feb18), with an announcement on a new tour and record expected imminently. Their representatives did not respond to a request for comment.