Chad Ginsberg Says Punching Alien Ant Farm’s Dryden Mitchell Was ‘Self-Defense’

CKY’s Chad I Ginsberg is speaking out about the recent drama with Alien Ant Farm’s Dryden Mitchell that got the West Chester rockers booted off their joint U.K. tour.

Just hours before the tour kicked off at Margate’s Dreamland on Nov. 9, the Alien Ant Farm frontman announced CKY’s removal following an alleged altercation, accusing Ginsberg of “treating multiple crew members and opening band members like trash” and claiming that things culminated in Ginsberg allegedly punching him in the face.

Taking to social media on Nov. 9, Mitchell wrote, “Chad from CKY hasn’t figured out how to cohabitate with others after all these years.”

“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,” Mitchell added. “I’ve watched him treat multiple crew members and opening band members like trash through the Europe shows and cause general drama around our camp.”

Later in the statement, he explained, “Today we still had business things to square away and I told his manager what a problem Chad was being, verbally, as well as f–kin up the bus with all of his messes every day for other people to clean up… Well he punched me in the face and pretty much ran away like I imagine he’ll do for all of his future problems.”

“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 concluded the lengthy post by claiming that if Ginsberg seeks therapy, “maybe in 25 years… we can shake hands.” CKY’s appearance on the U.K. tour has since been replaced by bands such as INME, Rat’s Nest, The Fear and The Nocturnal Affair.

Ginsberg initially responded to the allegations with a scathing message, urging fans to get their money back: “U.K. CKY fans get your money back!!! I had NO choice and GOOD reason for what happened. I will always defend myself. You know me much better than that!”

He added, “More info to come. Apologies to the fans.”

Now, Ginsberg has again taken to social media to elaborate on his side of the story, describing the incident as “self-defense.” In a series of Instagram stories, Ginsberg told fans, “Nothing wrong with defending yourself from a bad guy. If you are attacked or feel truly threatened, have no fear and stop the threat however you can.”

He continued: “I had to protect myself. It was a split second reaction to a very angry guy muttering then yelling #*%! at me from 10ft away charging at ME, into my personal space! Coming at me. He was attacking me! I felt a physical threat and had I not tried to avoid the attack, I would have been assaulted. For f—- sake.”

“I could say so much more. But situation sucks for all! I’d like to stop. Rather not get all into all. It’s no one’s biz. This is not news. as unfortunate as the situation is all together.”

Alien Ant Farm continues with the rest of the tour, while CKY fans hold out hope for future shows. Both bands are lined up to play at Download 2025, though it’s not yet known if they’ll perform on the same day.

Despite the alleged incident, the band’s Australian tour, which is currently scheduled to take place in February, is reportedly still set to go ahead, according to promoters.

“We are aware of the altercation between a member of Alien Ant Farm and a member of their support act, CKY,” promoters The Phoenix wrote in a statement on Nov. 10. “We have spoken at length with the representative of both artists this morning. “At this point it is best to let tempers cool and believe a solution/compromise can be found in the next few days that enables the shows (all of which are selling out rapidly) to proceed as planned.”

The Phoenix also responded to claims that the incident between Ginsberg and Mitchell would affect the Australian tour, noting, “We are working with both bands to calm things down and keep the tour intact. In the words of The Offspring, we may have to keep them separated…”