Slipknot briefly published a statement cutting ties with Sid Wilson on Friday before removing it, two weeks after his reported his firing.
Slipknot published a statement on their social channels on Friday afternoon confirming that Sid Wilson is no longer in the band. It was taken down shortly afterwards.
The post read: “Effective immediately, Slipknot will no longer be associated with Sid Wilson.”
“We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
“Slipknot“
No reason was given, and the band have not reposted it or commented since removing it.
This is the third time Slipknot have announced a departure and then deleted the announcement. In June 2023 a message reading “To our fans, Slipknot is announcing that we have parted ways with Craig Jones. We wish Jones all the best for the future” appeared on the band’s channels and was removed. Five months later, the statement announcing Jay Weinberg‘s exit, which said the band “has decided to make a creative decision, and to part ways with Jay“, was posted and likewise disappeared.
Friday’s post follows two weeks of unconfirmed reporting. TMZ first reported on July 31 that Wilson had been told that afternoon he was permanently out of the band, citing a source described as close to the group with direct knowledge. A follow-up story put the decision down to the way he had treated his bandmates and said it had been a long time coming.
Guitarist Jim Root was the only member to say anything publicly in that period, posting to Instagram Stories on the night the first report ran, soundtracked with 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.”
Wilson did not address it either. His first post after the report was a promotional video for a new independent merchandise store. Days later he declined to answer questions outside a Los Angeles recording studio. This week, co-hosting The World Scratch Invitational, he introduced himself to the crowd as “Sid, DJ Starscream/#0, from the world famous Slipknot.”
His ex-fiancée Kelly Osbourne posted a series of messages in early August that were widely read as referring to him, several of which she subsequently deleted. The pair became engaged in July last year, when Wilson proposed backstage at Ozzy Osbourne‘s final concert in Birmingham, and their engagement was reported to have ended in March. They have a son, born in late 2022.
Wilson, now 49, joined Slipknot in 1998 as the ninth and final piece of the lineup that recorded the 1999 self-titled debut. Designated #0, he handled turntables, keyboards and samples. He appears on every Slipknot studio album through 2022’s The End, So Far, as well as the long-shelved Look Outside Your Window project released earlier this year. Outside the band he records as DJ Starscream and SID and runs the label Vomit Face Records.
His exit leaves Corey Taylor, Shawn “Clown” Crahan, Root and Mick Thomson as the surviving members of the original nine. Bassist Paul Gray died in 2010. Drummer Joey Jordison was dismissed in 2013 and died in 2021. Percussionist Chris Fehn left in 2019 and Craig Jones in 2023. The current lineup also includes drummer Eloy Casagrande, percussionist and keyboardist Michael “Tortilla Man” Pfaff and bassist Alessandro “Vman” Venturella.
