Crossfaith have suspended all activities following the dismissal of guitarist Daiki Koide, who was removed from the band on June 28th after it was confirmed he had engaged in inappropriate communication with a 14-year-old girl during their European tour. The incident, initially made public by Falling In Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke, has continued to develop, with both Crossfaith and Daiki issuing further statements earlier today.
In a detailed follow-up shared via their social media accounts, Crossfaith published their own ‘Outline of Incidents’, a video showing the full direct message exchange between Daiki and the 14-year-old, along with screenshots of private messages sent by the girl’s mother to Radke, and his response to Crossfaith frontman Kenta Koie. They also issued a direct apology to the girl and her family, and confirmed the cancellation of their upcoming Japan tour Paint The Target, adding that all band activities will be paused for the foreseeable future.
In his own statement, shared with the band’s, Kenta Koie apologised for not acting sooner:
“Driven by emotion and a sense of needing to protect the band, I ended up making statements in his defence. Even after reviewing the actual DM exchange, I failed to fully grasp the gravity of Daiki’s actions, and as a result, did not make the decision to dismiss him immediately. I now recognise that this was a serious error in judgement, and I am deeply reflecting on my actions.”
Alongside their official statements, Crossfaith shared a video showing what’s presented as the full message exchange between Daiki and the girl. According to this version, Daiki’s final messages, “You’re so young!! But very mature!! I’m 37 years old!! But I don’t think it’s a problem!! 🔥” and “I’m jealous of how young you are!”, were sent after she disclosed her age, while all other exchanges were sent before she stated she was 14.
Daiki, in his own public apology posted to his personal X account, said he was unaware of the girl’s age during most of the exchange and acknowledged that the publicly shared messages were accurate. He described his response to her age disclosure as poorly worded, explaining that he intended to say “age doesn’t matter when it comes to going to a live show”. While denying they ever met in person, he admitted to suggesting a meeting earlier in the conversation, but said it was “meant in the context of ‘see you at a live show’”.
RELATED: Crossfaith dismiss guitarist Daiki following confirmed misconduct involving minor
Additionally, Crossfaith also released screenshots of private DMs between frontmen Koie and Radke, revealing early discussions around the incident. On June 19th, after being contacted by the victim’s mother, Radke informed Koie that Crossfaith would no longer be allowed to perform with Falling In Reverse, citing the seriousness of the allegations. While expressing regret and promising internal discussions, Koie initially defended Daiki, stating that he believed the guitarist only learned the girl’s age at the end of the exchange and had ceased contact immediately afterwards.
In further messages, Kenta suggested that cultural and linguistic differences may have played a role, writing that:
“…for us Japanese, it’s really hard to judge the age of people in Europe just by appearance. It’s kind of like how it’s hard for Westerners to guess the age of Asians based on how they look, right?”
And that Daiki is:
“…not good at English at all, so I don’t think he could judge the person’s age from how they spoke either. He was using a translation app just to put his messages together.”
Radke strongly rejected these explanations, arguing that a 37-year-old should have recognised the situation, regardless of cultural or language barriers. He stated:
“There is no excuse to this behavior and everyone is disgusted by his actions and also you defending him makes you just as guilty.”
Daiki has described the incident as stemming from his own lack of judgment and awareness, and admitted that he “lacked the professionalism required” when responding to a direct message from a fan. He also addressed the broader reaction and criticism directly, writing:
“I also want to make one thing absolutely clear: I am not a pedophile.
However, due to the spread of information that is not entirely accurate, a widespread misunderstanding has emerged that I am one. As a result, I have been receiving excessive and ongoing harassment from around the world.
This situation has placed me under intense psychological stress.
Still, I fully understand that everything stems from my own actions, and I deeply recognize how much pain and trouble I’ve caused so many people.”
Daiki first joined Crossfaith as a touring member in 2022 and was officially added to the permanent lineup in February 2024. He contributed to the band’s most recent album ‘AЯK’ and appeared at events including Download Festival and the band’s own HYPER PLANET 2025.
