Pete Parada Details Controversial Exit from The Offspring

Pete Parada, the former drummer of The Offspring, has detailed the controversial circumstances surrounding his dismissal from the band in 2021.

Speaking on the Try That In A Small Town podcast, Parada recounted the events that led to his exit, citing medical advice and a turbulent interaction with the band’s management as key factors. Parada, who joined The Offspring in 2007, shared that his decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was based on medical guidance.

Claiming he previously suffered from Guillain-Barré syndrome—a rare neurological disorder—his doctor advised against the vaccine due to potential risks. Despite presenting this exemption, Parada claimed it was dismissed outright by the band’s newly appointed 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.”

“He made it clear that I was either to get vaccinated or I’d be replaced,” he added. “The phone call was so shocking.” 

Parada revealed that he reached out to his long-time bandmates to voice concerns about the manager’s behavior, but his attempts were met with indifference.

“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.’”

Communication broke down soon after, Parada claimed, adding that he realized he had been replaced when his flight to a rehearsal was unexpectedly canceled. “That’s how I found out,” he said.

At the time, The Offspring was gearing up to promote their tenth studio album, Let the Bad Times Roll, released in April 2021, which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Albums Chart and No. 27 on the Billboard 200.

The band has yet to publicly address Parada’s recent comments, and they are currently preparing for their Supercharged Worldwide in ’25 tour in support of their 11th studio album, Supercharged., released in October. The album reached No.1 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, while the lead single “Make It All Right” reached No. 1. reached No. 1 on both the Alternative Airplay and Active Rock charts. The band have since released “Light It Up”, as well as “Come To Brazil”.

The Offspring: Supercharged Worldwide in ’25 Australian tour will kick off on Sunday, May 4 in Adelaide, heading onto Melbourne and Sydney, and closing out on Wednesday, May 14 in Brisbane.

In a statement before its release, Dexter Holland revealed that Supercharged was recorded in Maui, Vancouver and the group’s home studio in Huntington Beach with legendary producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi). “I feel like this is the best we have ever sounded! We’ve been rocking out and headbanging to it for months! And we can’t wait for you guys to hear it!” he said.