Fired for Freedom: Pete Parada's Defiant Stance for Bodily Autonomy

Pete Parada, drummer of The Defiant, who was infamously ousted from The Offspring in 2021 over his objection to the COVID-19 vaccine, recently appeared on British rapper and podcaster Zuby's podcast, "Real Talk with Zuby."

Parada and Zuby first crossed paths after the drummer shared a long thread to X, then Twitter, detailing his exit from the band after declining to vaccinate for COVID-19, per his doctor's reccomendation. In his thread, Parada cited his previous diagnosis of Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

"I caught the virus over a year ago, it was mild for me - so I am confident I’d be able to handle it again," Parada wrote at the time, indicating the side effects of his syndrome would be worse to experience than the virus itself. 



"I stumbled upon Zuby in 2020 when I was waking up to the world. He was--and still is--an incredibly articulate, insightful, and witty writer," Parada told The American Beat. "His courage was inspirational and part of how I knew I could speak up and find my way forward regardless of the fallout."

"I sent him my public statement about being fired over vaccine noncompliance and he showed me support immediately, then shared my story," the drumer added.


 

We’ve since gotten to meet up a few times. When he asked to interview me for his podcast, I was pumped to get a chance to sit down with him. Since taking a stand, I’ve met a lot of people who I admire. Sometimes this can be an incredibly disappointing experience, but that was not the case with Zuby.

"He’s a real one and I’m proud to call him friend," Parada said.

During their podcast episode, the drummer detailed his exposure to music through his band director father, his early career in music and subsequent changes in technology in the industry troughout the years. Parada also discussed his controversial firing from The Offspring, which he had been a member of for 14 years.

Although Parada said he expected a firestorm of backlash for his Twitter thread, the drummer said he received a ton of support from likeminded people similarly concerned about the vaccine and its side effects along with government and bureaucratic overreach of mandates. 

Parada said his frustration with The Offspring's vaccine mandate didn't stem from the band's status as punk rock icons.

"It's not like anyone cares who's playing drums on 'Pretty Fly for a White Guy,'" the former drummer said. "It was not a big deal that there was gonna be a different drummer in that band."

"To me, it was [that] I've got kids, and if we all lay down here and give up our rights to decide what goes in our bodies or not -- it doesn't stop there," Parada warned. "It's like, 'Oh, they're willing to allow us that? Let's push more. Let's take more things away.'"

Parada went on to cite his children as his motivation to stand up for his beliefs and risk his career by opposing The Offspring's vaccine mandate. 

"Dad's gonna light his life and his career on fire here cause it is this important that you get this message," Parada said, noting his children also faced pressure at school with masking and testing measures during the pandemic. 

The drummer chalked up the mandate craze during the pandemic to "virtue-signaling crusaders."

"It wasn't political for me not to get the vaccine," he said. "I've had a history of bad reactions to vaccines. I'm not gonna go through that especially with a new technology."

Parada joked that being labeled an antivaxxer during the pandemic was "worse than being a racist" and went on to say he became a "lighthouse" for others in the music industry who were similarly afraid to publicly oppose COVID-19 mandates. 



After his ousting from The Offspring, Parada went on to form a new supergroup The Defiant with fellow musicians who also vocally opposed vaccine mandates and faced their own cancellation including Dicky Barrett, formerly of The Mighty Mighty BossToneS, former Smash Mouth guitarist Greg Camp, former Street Dogs bassist Johnny Rioux, and former member of The Briggs Joey La Rocca on guitar and keys.

In October 2023, The Defiant released their debut album, If We're Really Being Honest. The album never explicitly references COVID-19 or vaccines, though makes many references and allusions to the pandemic and the authoritaran nature of the pandemic.

Parada told The American Beat that the band is "kicking around ideas for the possibility of a second record."

Earlier this year, The Defiant made their debut network performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The Band's performance marked Barrett's return to the program after serving as Kimmel's announcer from 2004 until his 2022 departure due to his vocal opposition to vaccine mandates on the show.


 

During the performance, Parada donned a shirt reading, "FREE SPEECH IS FOR EVERYONE. EVEN PEOPLE YOU DISAGREE WITH."

The Defiant is currently on the road performing shows with Social Distortion this week.

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