Ex-Corey Taylor Bassist Explains Why He Was Fired From Band

Former Corey Taylor bassist Jason Christopher, who was also the rocker's best friend for several decades, posted a lengthy statement on social media yesterday (Aug. 20) explaining why he was fired from the band. Taylor's wife, Alicia Taylor, has since responded in a statement of her own in defense of her husband.

Christopher, who's been in Prong for quite a while, was a member of Taylor's solo band for years and played on his 2020 debut album CMFT. According to his post, he was fired in 2021 after receiving a positive COVID-19 test the day after the band had a rehearsal. He admitted to feeling ill during the rehearsal, but assumed that it was safe since he'd been vaccinated.

"Everyone on the television that was supposed to know about this stuff was telling me that if I got the vaccine, I wouldn’t get COVID anymore. So I chalked it up to allergies and a morning spin class," he wrote. "I should have known better because I was really heavy in the feet that day, but I didn’t have any flu-like symptoms, I was just really tired. I just got through rehearsal as best I could and went home to take a nap."

Christopher claimed that he immediately let Taylor know about his positive test, and he received "an extremely unnerving text" from the vocalist in response, telling the bassist that his "negligence could have killed his daughter, his mother in law" and so forth. Christopher was apparently high at the time, and sent a text back in apology for the situation, though he confessed that he didn't want to apologize at all.

"It wasn’t till a week later that I realized everyone in the entire camp was balls out mad at me because I had apparently come into rehearsal like it was 1985 and I was rubbing my full blown aid sores all over everyone," he continued, adding that Taylor and everyone in his camp shut Christopher out. Furthermore, he asserted that people started spreading rumors about him so that no one would bring him on tour, including Stone Sour's Johnny Chow.

"I was now completely blacklisted from a 'career' that I was finally able to say was starting to get somewhere," he said. "I sent a couple of apology emails trying to save face, but they were completely insincere because I wasn’t sorry."

The musician then proceeded to insult Taylor's solo material that he played on, though he admitted that he misses "feeling mildly important."

"I’m trying to regain some sort of confidence in myself after all this and that’s not the way to do it… but 80 percent of that music was absolute garbage, and none of my real friends hesitated to tell me that when the first album came out. I remember getting mad at my friends when they would clown me about the first single that was released. I was so embarrassed to play that shit, but whatever… we do what we do for our friends because we love and support them no matter what right? It also didn’t hurt that he’s a massive rock star and I was finally in some sort of limelight?"

Christopher concluded the post reiterating how hurt he is by the situation, especially because he hasn't been able to land a gig with another group since. And, finally, he noted that he was paid $160 for his last gig with Taylor.

Read the full post below.

A few hours after Christopher's post went live, Alicia Taylor wrote a lengthy statement of her own on her social media, which she said she was given permission by her husband and his band to do.

"It's a shame that it's come to this, and I'm not a fan of how messy this is — but someone needs to say it. I'm going to start this by saying, I genuinely adored Jason. He was kind, charismatic, fun, hilarious, witty... and he would drop everything to help Corey in serious times. For that, I was always grateful to him," she wrote.

"I know this isn't my place, but I'm tired of this person dragging my husband and his band through the mud with half-truths to make himself look better every time the band does something like a tour or releases a single. It's like clockwork — and it's painfully obvious this is coming from a place of bitterness and jealousy. It's been years and no one from the band has said anything publicly, yet this guy can't move on. He rants on social media for sympathy, every time he gets his feelings hurt because he's no longer part of something due to the consequences of his own choices."

Alicia stated that Christopher wasn't fired from the band because he tested positive for COVID-19, but because everyone was asked to get tested (and get a negative result) prior to going to the rehearsals. She claimed that he willingly went to the rehearsal knowing he didn't feel well, and that even if he had tested positive before the rehearsal, "everything would have been fine, in regards to his place with the band" because they would have been able to figure the situation out while he stayed home and recovered.

"The irresponsibility of not doing his part by getting tested in advance so that measures could be taken is why he's no longer here," she continued, then cited the "insincere" apology messages he sent to everyone. "If he was insincere with his giant apology emails... what was the movie? Ah, to get back in, and nothing more. Knowing this by Jason's own admission says it all: the band did the right thing anyways."

Alicia then noted Christopher and the other band members were paid $1,200 per week on salary by Taylor during the pandemic, and the singer made nothing himself.

"Want to know Corey's rate? $0.00 (that's zero, by the way, NOTHING) so he could pay his band everything he could. Jason didn't have to take that tour or that job, he could have stayed home and not worked, and made the same amount of money as Corey."

According to her post, Taylor also bought Christopher a car and sent him and his son on a fully-paid vacation to Disney.

"When two of my performers were talking with him, he would say things like, 'It's fine, Corey can afford it.' Red flag: this isn't something a real friend says. Jason had changed," she recalled.

"You know the saying, if it smells like shit everywhere you go... maybe look under your shoe," Alicia concluded, further adding that she hopes Christopher gets help and finds happiness.

"And before anyone gets all, 'Shut up, Yoko' on me, the band has given me permission to say this, and I'll always stand up against lies, especially when it comes to my husband."

See her post below.