The beef between Machine Gun Kelly and Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor was a pretty needless one. The feud began in 2021 when Machine Gun Kelly decided to call out Slipknot from the stage during his appearance at Riot Fest 2020, saying "Hey, you all know what I'm really happy that I'm not doing? Being 50 years old, wearing a fuckin' weird mask on a fuckin' stage. Fuckin' shit. So anyway, what's everyone's favorite candy? Reese's Pieces?" Kelly then took to Twitter adding that Taylor was bitter for being rejected on a guest spot on Kelly's recent punk album, which turned out not to be true thanks to a handful of emails.
Now in the new Machine Gun Kelly documentary on Hulu, Kelly walks back some of what he said…. sort of. Kelly said the situation was simply unfortunate because "both of us let our egos get in the way" and then claims that he was actually being cool about the guest spot issue. Except the feud started when Kelly called Slipknot out from the stage for no reason, and then lied about the guest spot thing.
"It's funny, the whole Slipknot issue (which really isn't a Slipknot issue, it's a Corey issue)," he said as transcribed by The Pit. "That situation's unfortunate because I think both of us let our egos get in the way. You know, I was a fan of Slipknot. I was a fan of Corey. That's why I'd asked him to get on Tickets to My Downfall. He obviously had mutual respect, too, because he cut a verse.
"I kind of tried to give notes back, like 'oh, you know, this wasn't exactly what I was looking for, can we try this?' And respectfully he was like, you know, 'no.' And I was like, 'okay, cool.' So we didn't use it. You know, then I heard him on a podcast." That last part is a reference to Taylor's comment saying "I hate all new rock, for the most part. The artists (in quotes) who failed in one genre and decided to go rock… and I think he knows who he is."
Kelly later adds that "I could have handled it differently. I should have just picked up the phone and been like hey dude, 'why would you say that'? But, instead, we all acted ridiculous." Which again – I guess? It feels like the whole thing could've just been avoided if Kelly didn't bother to call Slipknot out and then make it an issue on his Twitter. And sure, Taylor could've also avoided his comment on the podcast.
Ultimately the whole thing was pretty silly, and Kelly is out of rock for good now anyway (or so he claims).
