Jay Weinberg has spoken publicly about the emotional toll of his dismissal from Slipknot and the role therapy has played in helping him process the upheaval. The drummer, who joined the metal band in 2013 and was let go in 2023 over what the group described as a creative decision, said the experience left him feeling like a tangled ball of rusted barbed wire.
In a conversation with Bryce Maopolski, development manager at the music-based mental health nonprofit HeartSupport, Weinberg described how he turned to mental health professionals to begin untangling that emotional knot. He said the process required seeking a therapist near his home in Tennessee, which took time, though he was not entirely new to therapy. In his early twenties, while living on the East Coast in New Jersey and New York, he had prior experience with it.
Weinberg said that earlier encounters with therapy were not always a perfect fit, but familiarity with the process helped. A trusted friend eventually recommended a therapist, and the connection clicked. «It finally felt like an unlocking of a door, like a door that I’d tried many keys trying to open and it just wouldn’t,» he said. He now tries to attend sessions once a week, which he finds helps him sort through difficult thoughts and make sense of challenging life circumstances.
He also reflected on the broader lesson of accepting that he does not need to have all the answers on his own. «I’m okay with not being the person who naturally has all the answers, and I sometimes need to reach out to my community, to someone I trust, to help me get through a challenging moment,» he said. That realization, he added, took time to reach.
Weinberg’s dismissal from Slipknot was announced in 2023, and at the time he said he was heartbroken and blindsided. Earlier this year he noted that the decision remains confusing to him. Just weeks after the firing, he underwent surgery, which he described as a simultaneous mental and physical grind. «Talk about a mental and physical grind every moment of every day just to feel like a normal person,» he said. «The experience definitely taught me a lot, and continues to.»
He was careful to frame therapy not as a cure but as an ongoing part of maintaining health. «None of this is like, ‘I’m fixed and I’m all better.’ I just view it as this is part of being a healthy person,» he said. He described it as part of a journey of prioritizing his well-being so that life’s uncontrollable events and unexpected actions of others do not overwhelm him. «It’s just part of my practice now,» he added.
Since leaving Slipknot, Weinberg has kept busy with multiple projects. He joined Suicidal Tendencies, recorded with Fuming Mouth, and collaborated with Canadian group Softcult on the song «Drown Fountain.» He also launched his own band, Portraits of an Apparition, and began work on solo material. He recently explained that he is now able to pursue these projects after a period in which he lacked the legal ability to work with other artists.
Meanwhile, Slipknot returned with a surprise single, «Arsenal,» their first new music in three years and their first release since the departure of Sid Wilson and the arrival of drummer Eloy Casagrande. The track drew mixed reviews online, with some fans surprised by its heavy use of turntable scratching given Wilson’s exit. Guitarist Jim Root later said the song does not reflect the album the band is currently working on. The group’s new album will be its first since 2022’s «The End, So Far,» and while details remain vague, the band has said it is working with Matt Wallace and has «so much material.»