Alien Ant Farm have kicked CKY off the remainder of their UK and Ireland co-headlining tour following a physical altercation involving the two groups’ frontman. Just hours before they were set to kick off the UK leg of the tour with a performance in Margate’s Dreamland on Nov. 9, AAF vocalist Dryden Mitchell accused CKY frontman Chad I Ginsburg of punching him in the face.
“Sadly, Chad from CKY hasn’t figured out how to cohabitate with others after all these years,” Mitchell wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post, per Stereogum. “They will no longer be on the Alien Ant Farm Tour through the rest of the UK shows after Chad punched me in the face earlier today.”
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According to Mitchell, this was not the first incident involving Ginsburg. The musician claimed that throughout their tour, he has “watched him treat multiple crew members and opening band members like trash through the Europe shows and cause general drama around our camp.” He said the latest incident occurred before the last Europe shows when he went to Ginsburg “and asked if he had any issues with anyone specifically and if he wanted to have a meeting with the whole crew and bands to discuss what’s going on.” Ginsburg allegedly up ended the table in the dressing room and threw his phone, and then canceled their show.
“Well he punched me in the face and pretty much ran away like I imagine he’ll do for all of his future problems,” he continued. “I’m grateful for my sobriety and grateful that I didn’t retaliate physically in any way whatsoever. I would love these shows to continue and apologize to all the CKY fans for Chad’s behavior. We have zero hard feelings for Jess and Elvis in CKY and are gutted to see them go, but I will never knowingly put myself in volatile situations so this had to end.”
Mitchell ended his post with a message to Ginsburg, writing, “Chad, Go To The Gym… After That, Find A Therapist, And Maybe In 25 Years… We Can Shake Hands. Until Then Though…. GET HELP, Love Dryden.”
Addressing the incident on his own account, Ginsburg said he “had NO choice and GOOD reason for what happened,” adding that he “will always defend myself. You know me much better than that! More info to come, apologies to the fans.” He used the hashtags “#onesidedbullshit”, “#twosidestoeverystory,” and “#ifyouonlyknew.”
In CKY’s absence, UK alt-rock band InMe will join Alien Ant Farm on the tour dates from Nov. 16 through Nov. 24.