Bassist Mike Leon has revealed that he has parted ways with CKY, roughly six months after joining the band this past July. When he was first welcomed into the alternative rock outfit, Leon called himself a “diehard CKY fan” and also said: “As a lifelong fan, it’s an unreal feeling sharing the stage with the very same guys who sparked my passion to play in a band.”
Regarding the reason for his departure, Mike cited “unprofessionalism” and “lack of accountability” from the band’s leader, Chad I Ginsburg.
Revealing his exit in a statement issued yesterday, February 20th, he wrote:
“Hey everyone,”
“I want to let you know that my time with CKY has come to an end. Growing up, I was a huge fan of the band, and getting the opportunity to play with them was a dream come true. I genuinely enjoyed my time there, and it was fun… until it wasn’t.”
“For full transparency, I will not be participating in the band’s upcoming shows. As unfortunate as this is, given the circumstances, I believe this was the right move to make. The differences regarding logistics and business decisions, primarily driven by the actions of the band’s leader, created internal issues that made an already stressful environment increasingly difficult to work in.”
“This unprofessionalism and lack of accountability was known well before I joined, and persisted throughout my time with the band, making day-to-day operations a constant challenge. The love I had for the band blinded me to the red flags my peers and the band’s previous history had warned me about, especially surrounding the frontman, yet I chose to believe things would be different.”
“In all of my years of working in this industry, I have never experienced this level of toxicity from an individual, and it stings extra having been perpetrated by the very band that first inspired me to start my career as a musician.”
“Music should be a source of joy, but the environment became a source of stress that ultimately outweighed the positive aspects of being part of the band I grew up loving. I will continue creating music, and I sincerely thank all of you for your unconditional support.”
“~Mike“
In response, Ginsburg shared video statement on Instagram stories yesterday, saying (via theprp):
“I don’t know what Mike Leon is talking about in his post, however, I do know the facts. And The facts are Mike — and you know them too — the facts are that we fired you last night because you hate dogs, and you didn’t want to tour with the dogs, and you wanted more money, and you weren’t happy with anything ever. So unfortunately it’s not working out Mike. But what you wrote is f**king crazy dude. Like prove any of that, f**king s**t.”
Posting separately, Ginsburg offered:
“Well hot dang, lots of bass players wanting to now play bass for CKY. Are you sure? We’ve had ove rnine I think. If you want to play base [sic] for CKY send a DM to @ckymusic”
Ginsburg also added:
“don’t worry. BASS JOB fully covered for the upcoming tour”
“dates are at ckyofficial.com”
“because we knew we were replacing the bassist.”
“getting like way too many requests to be our bass player now please send a video dm to @ckymusic”
“must be based in Nashville.”
