Why Did Slipknot Fire Jay Weinberg? Fans Sound Off

The Gist:

• On Nov. 5, 2023, Slipknot posted and then deleted an announcement about drummer Jay Weinberg’s departure from the band.
• Jay joined the group in 2014, following original drummer Joey Jordison’s exit in late 2013.

The excellence of a band usually boils down to the sum of its parts and the individual members’ abilities to play off of each other, so whenever an integral piece of that puzzle goes missing, like in the tragic case of Slipknot’s Joey Jordison, it can be difficult to strike that balance again.

Fans of the band, however, felt that the musical act was in a great place when Jay Weinberg joined in 2014, which is why so many people are asking why he was fired in November 2023.

Loudwire reported that Slipknot made the announcement of Jay’s departure in a since-removed Instagram post on Nov. 5, 2023, which fans of the band have criticizing for taking down.

Consequence.net managed to get a screengrab of the post, which reads: “We would like to thank Jay Weinberg for his dedication and passion over the past ten years.”

The message continued, “No one can ever replace Joey Jordison’s original sound, style or energy, but Jay honored Joey’s parts and contributed to the last three albums and we, the band, and the fans appreciate it. But as ever, Slipknot is intent on evolving.”

According to the post, the impetus behind firing Jay seemed rooted in exploring different creative routes for the band, which Slipknot says would require someone else to fill Jay’s role as drummer: “The band has decided to make a creative decision, and to part ways with Jay. We wish Jay all the best and are very excited for what the future holds.”

While the aforementioned post was removed, fans were quick to leave remarks on other posts criticizing the group’s decision, like one person who wrote: “‘No one ever can replace Joey’ — so why did you kick Joey out of the group?”

“BUT WHY KICK OUT JAY???? WHAT’S THE POINT????” another remarked.