NEWS
A former drummer of The Offspring has spoken out on getting fired from band due to refusing the COVID vaccine.
In 2021, Pete Parada was dropped from the punk rock band, claiming it was “decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio and on tour”.
The drummer had said he decided not to get vaccinated after consulting with his doctor, who advised him “not to get a shot at this time” given his personal medical history of Guillain-Barre syndrome as a child, along with “the side-effect profile of these jabs”.
Now, in an interview with podcast Try That In A Small Town, Parada sat down to discuss his exit from the band. He revealed that, despite declaring his doctor’s advice, the band did not accept the exemption – specifically, the band’s manager.
“He was new with the band. He’d only been with them since Covid hit. So I didn’t have a lot of history with this guy,” Parada said. “He chose to come at me like a flamethrower. I’ve gotten crappy phone calls before, this was the most abusive and threatening call I’ve ever had in my entire career.”
Parada claimed that the manager told him that he doesn’t “care about your medical exemption”, and that he was “just yelling” and cutting him off.
“He made it clear that I was either to get vaccinated or I’d be replaced,” he added. “The phone call was so shocking.” Watch the interview below.
Parada then explained that he wrote to “the two guys in the band that were my boss”, presumably long-time members Dexter Holland and Noodles.
“I tried to talk to them about him and I said, ‘You might fire me over this but you should know, this guy is not representing you well and if he’s treating me like this, he’s treating your crew even worse’”, he claimed.
“I was told, ‘That’s not the concern right now, he’s not the concern, your refusal to do this is the concern.’”
“So things deteriorated pretty rapidly after that and less than a week later I found all communication stopped. I had a flight and a hotel and stuff on hold to go to rehearsal, and a week later, I checked my Southwest app and that’s how I found out I was replaced because my flight was canceled.” NME has reached out to the band’s management for comment.
The band are set to tour Europe later this year in support of their 11th and most recent studio album, ‘Supercharged’, which was released last October.
The tour will kick off in Cardiff on November 10 ahead of further performances at London’s O2, Newcastle’s Utilita Arena, Manchester’s AO Arena, and Glasgow’s OVO Hydro. Simple Plan are set to support the group across the run.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso honored Shyne with a key to the city during a ceremony held at the East Flatbush Young Men’s Mentorship Expo on Saturday. The recognition highlighted both his influence in hip hop and his contributions as a public figure and advocate. Reynoso also declared April 25, 2026 as “Shyne Day” in Brooklyn.
“Shyne embodies what is possible when a community believes in its young people, and the magic that can happen when young people are given the resources they need to thrive. East Flatbush raised Shyne, and it only made sense to present him with the Key to Brooklyn as we team up to deliver hope and opportunity to dozens of young men today,” Reynoso said at the event, as caught by BK Reader.
Shyne also addressed the crowd. “This is the community that raised me, and it’s important for me to pass that love forward,” he said. “There couldn’t be a better way to celebrate this milestone than coming back home and pouring into the next generation.” He also revealed that everyone in attendance would receive complimentary tickets to his 25th anniversary concert on May 2 at the Kings Theatre.
The show will mark 25 years since the release of his self titled debut studio album, which arrived on September 26, 2000. Even while Shyne was incarcerated at the time, the project debuted and reached number five on the Billboard 200 chart. It moved close to 160,000 units in its opening week.
Earlier this week, Shyne posted a video of himself standing outside the Kings Theatre on Instagram while promoting the upcoming performance. "Can’t wait to see you this Saturday, May 2 @kingsbklyn as we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Shyne Album…..the celebration will continue @crownhilltheatre where I will meet, take pictures and party with you, my loyal supporters, who’ve made Shyne a Rap Legend," he captioned the post. Fans filled the comments with fire emojis in response.
