Fifth Harmony announces Camila Cabello’s departure

The group released a statement on Twitter early Monday confirming Cabello’s departure and wishing her well.

Billboard reports that Cabello ditched the group on the very first day she legally could: “December 18, the day the split was announced, marked the conclusion of Cabello’s contractual obligations to the group and offered an exit,” says a source.

The four remaining members — Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane Hansen, Lauren Jauregui and Normani Kordei — will continue on as a quartet.

The statement reads, “We are four strong, committed women who will continue with Fifth Harmony as well as our solo endeavours,” and claims that the group were only told of Cabello’s departure through her representatives.

The statement didn’t clarify the reason for the 19-year-old’s exit.
 

pic.twitter.com/YlWylsw5uE

— Fifth Harmony (@FifthHarmony) December 19, 2016

In her own statement on Twitter, Cabello refuted the group’s version of events, saying she was “shocked” to read the statement they’d posted “without her knowledge.”

“The girls were aware of my feelings through the long, much needed conversations about the future that we had during tour. Saying they were informed by my representatives that I was “leaving the group” is simply not true.”
 

pic.twitter.com/e35U3tcTQ8

— Camila Cabello (@camilacabello97) December 19, 2016

Fifth Harmony was formed on the second season of the The X Factor USA in 2012 after finishing in third place. They have released two studio albums, Reflection in 2015, and 7/27 earlier this year.

The group scored its biggest hit this year with Work From Home, and ARIA 4 x platinum smash that aslso ended up on many critics’ lists of the best singles of the year.
 

"I'll only have you if you're sweeter than my solitude" pic.twitter.com/87ImiGcUPJ

— Camila Cabello (@camilacabello97) December 18, 2016

Cabello has been branching out on her own over the past year. She collaborated with Shawn Mendes on I Know What You Did Last Summer, and her duet with Machinegun Kelly, Bad Things, reached the No. 10 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

Fan speculation about a rift between Cabello and the rest of the group has been growing for months now - just check this video compilation showing the singer seemingly alienated from her fellow Fifth Harmony members (she’s the one painfully attempting to give high-fives):