After nearly a decade of touring and three albums together, Jay Weinberg was fired from Slipknot in 2023. To this day, he says the dismissal came “without an explanation,” and he still isn’t really sure why he was let go.

Weinberg first joined the band in 2014. He stepped in after founding drummer Joey Jordison left in 2013. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the musician reflected on his time with Slipknot, their “mystique,” and writing alongside primary guitarist Jim Root. Eventually, the conversation turned toward Weinberg’s unceremonious exit.

In late 2023, he was told that his contract with the band was not being renewed. This, he said, came after he had notified the band of plans to have surgery between tours due to an injury to his hip. To his surprise, after getting the all-clear from the band, Weinberg said he woke up one morning to a call from their management, informing him he was no longer a member of the band.

Jay Weinberg was nominated for Four Grammys as a member of Slipknot

“It took place, to be quite honest, at the end of a year that was a very difficult year within the band,” Weinberg shared. “That might relate to some of those preexisting tensions before I arrived at the band, sort of coming back. But I’m left with no explanation, just that ‘It’s a creative decision and you’re no longer the drummer in Slipknot.’”

Weinberg continued, “And what he said from there was, ‘We would like to release a joint statement with you tomorrow. Take the rest of the day to think about it. I’ll be available to you for the rest of the day if you want to talk.’”

Reflecting on how he felt in the moment, Wenbwerg confessed, “My world just kind of bottomed out from under me. This thing that I have been dedicated to with complete focus and drive and attention and love and holding on to a dream, despite the difficulties, despite all the things that happen with entering a volatile environment like that and a dark environment at that, to having nothing but questions.”

After Weinberg’s dismissal, Slipknot hired Sepultura’s Eloy Casagrande as their new drummer

The drummer said he “went on a walk” to clear his head and “process what had just happened.” Then, “20 minutes later,” Weineberg says Slipknot “posted their own statement online.”

“I mean, how would anybody feel about that? It perfectly encapsulates the confusion of that,” he went on to say. “And like I said, it came after an extraordinarily tense year for the band, things that I could only see as an outsider in relationships that are 25 years deep. It came without an explanation, no reason. It was confusing then. If I’m perfectly honest, it remains confusing.”

Weinberg went on to surmise that his dismissal could have been related to him “being caught in between those preexisting tensions” within an established band. “It’s easy for a newcomer, for myself, to be caught in the crossfire there,” he said. “Maybe I became a scapegoat for certain things.

Following his Slipknot. Weinberg joined metal supergroup Infectious Grooves and crossover thrash icons Suicidal Tendencies. He remains with both bands today.