CKY‘s Mike Leon has quit the band due to Chad I Ginsburg’s “toxicity”, although the frontman has fired back with claims Leon was actually fired for his dislike of dogs.
Taking to Instagram on Friday (February 20), the bassist, formerly of Soulfly, told fans his time with CKY had come to an end, saying his time with the band “was fun, until it wasn’t”.
“For full transparency, I will not be participating in the band’s upcoming shows,” he said. “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 [Chad I Ginsburg], created internal issues that made an already stressful environment increasingly difficult to work in.”
He went on to say his alleged “unprofessionalism and lack of accountability” was well known before he joined. His comments come after Alien Ant Farm’s Dryden Mitchell kicked CKY off their tour after Ginsburg punched him in the face in 2024.
More recently, British nu-metal group BLACKGOLD pulled out of their tour with the Pennsylvania rock band due to frontman Ginsburg’s “disrespect” and “narcissism”.
Leon said his love for the band had blinded him “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,” he continued.
In a response shared to his Instagram stories (via Stereogum), Ginsburg said: “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, is 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 fucking crazy, dude. Like, prove any of that fucking shit.” He then asked bassists from Nashville to DM auditions across to the band.
Last year, their 1999 hit ’96 Quite Bitter Beings’ featured in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 soundtrack alongside music from Motörhead, Alice In Chains, Run The Jewels and Turnstile.
NME previously said the track was “so intrinsically linked to 1990s skate culture, in part thanks to MTV show Jackass, it is strange to think it took till the third Tony Hawk’s for it to appear on the soundtrack. That riff isn’t one you’ll be shaking off in a hurry – infectious, heavy, furiously good.”
