The question of Sid Wilson‘s future with Slipknot just got even harder to answer.
The band’s longtime turntablist showed up this week as a co-host at The World Scratch Invitational, where he introduced himself to the crowd using both his Slipknot alias and the band’s name — no hint of distance, no ambiguity in how he framed himself. As seen in the video below, Wilson told the audience: “What’s up ya’ll? Sid, DJ Starscream/#0, from the world famous Slipknot, how ya’ll doing tonight?”
That’s a striking thing to say less than two weeks after TMZ reported, in a July 31 story, that Wilson had been permanently let go from Slipknot after nearly 30 years in the band. TMZ‘s report claimed Wilson had already been informed of his firing — but neither he nor the band has confirmed anything publicly. His latest public appearance, introducing himself as very much still part of Slipknot, only deepens the mystery of what’s actually going on behind the scenes.
TMZ didn’t stop at the initial report. A follow-up story claimed Wilson‘s exit had been “a long time coming,” alleging that the band’s patience with the 49-year-old had run out — specifically over “the way he treated his bandmates.” TMZ also claimed Slipknot had planned to break the news of Wilson‘s departure on their own terms this week, but ended up losing “control of the rollout” once TMZ‘s story beat them to it.
TMZ further reported that Wilson was seen outside a Los Angeles recording studio on Sunday, and declined to answer when asked directly about the reported firing.
The only member of Slipknot to say anything publicly has been guitarist Jim Root, who posted to Instagram Stories on the day the first story ran, set to the band’s 2008 track “‘Til We Die“.
“Don’t believe every thing you read. Stop. Think. Take a breath. Sit with it for awhile. Maybe. Just maybe even wait until there’s more information,” Root wrote.
Root did not name Wilson or reference the reports directly, and his post has been read both as a denial and as a request for patience. The band’s official channels have posted nothing about a lineup change.
Elsewhere in the orbit of the group, the wife of guitarist Mick Thomson drew attention with a post of her own, and Wilson‘s own social media activity since the reports surfaced has given fans little to work with.
Slipknot assign their members numbers from 0 through 8. Wilson held #0, working turntables, keyboards and samples, and supplying the effects and background textures that sit underneath much of the band’s catalogue.
He has appeared on every Slipknot studio album, through The End, So Far in 2022 and the long-delayed Look Outside Your Window project issued earlier this year.
Outside the band he has performed as DJ Starscream, a name taken from the Transformers character, since the 2000s, fronts his own project SID, and runs the label Vomit Face Records.
If confirmed, Wilson‘s departure would continue a long run of turnover in a band that once presented itself as an unchanging nine.
Founding drummer Joey Jordison was let go in 2013 and died in 2021. Percussionist Chris Fehn parted ways with the group in 2019. Sampler and keyboardist Craig Jones exited in 2023. Bassist Paul Gray died in 2010.
That leaves Corey Taylor, Shawn “Clown” Crahan, Root and Thomson as the remaining members of the classic nine-man lineup. The current roster also includes drummer Eloy Casagrande, percussionist and keyboardist Michael “Tortilla Man” Pfaff, bassist Alessandro “Vman” Venturella, and an unidentified sampler who joined in 2023.
