10 Times Metal Musicians Trolled Reporters On The Red Carpet

Whether it’s the Grammys or somewhere else, you’ll never get a more shallow interview than on a red carpet. They’re not worth watching 99% of the time, unless someone mistakes you for Poppy and you just kinda go with it.

With that 2025 Grammys blunder still fresh in our minds, here are 10 times metal musicians trolled reporters on the red carpet… mostly at very non-metal events.

I am Poppy. You are Poppy. We are all Poppy. Courtney LaPlante’s red carpet moment at the 2025 Grammys will likely stick in our minds as long as that Jethro Tull thing from decades ago. The Spiritbox frontwoman played through her interviewer’s blunder perfectly, finally giving metalheads a Grammys moment to care about. (Epic Gojira win, though) Apparently the red carpet interviewer was given the wrong name as LaPlante approached. We can’t be too hard on her… how many baddiecore fans do you think were covering the Grammy Awards?

Sticking with “Music’s Biggest Night,” Mastodon guitar Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor made the most of their nomination in 2015. Hinds dressed up as an L.A. Dodger while Dailor brought his clown fascination to life with a special “birthday suit.” It was nonstop trolling from Hinds, who first expressed his disappointment for not being allowed to bring his guns on the red carpet. The guitarist was incredibly slick throughout this interview, and when a female interviewer asked, “Hit any home runs?” Hinds instantly responded, “I only hit home runs, darling.”

Papa Emeritus III was trying to get his bones jumped during this red carpet interview. The Ghost frontman was so distracted by a female interviewer that one of the Nameless Ghouls actually dropped most of the interview’s best lines. When asked, “Do you want to say anything to the people back home?” A Ghoul responded, “Stay away from the Grammys.” Even when pressed about their getups, that same Ghoul poignantly said, “I wouldn’t necessarily say we use any more makeup than anyone else here tonight.”

Before Steel Panther became the greatest heavy metal band of all time, they were just struggling middle-aged dudes trying to show their bulges in public. The Panther made a 2009 appearance at something called The Q Awards, talking to a site called MyWardrobeTV.com. Needless to say, the interviewer had no idea what she was getting into. 

This aired as a segment on The Tonight Show or something back in 2006. On the Grammys red carpet, a trolling reporter was asking silly questions to musicians, only to run into Slipknot and receive a verbal shredding from Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan. “If there was a heavy metal song about me, what would it be called?” the reporter asked. “Jackass,” answered Crahan. “Let me hear a couple lyrics,” the reporter batted back. Crahan bluntly replied, “You’re a jackass.”

Who would’ve thought Fred Durst could outwit one of the greatest comedians of all time? Joan Rivers was a fixture on red carpets for decades, this time chatting with the Limp Bizkit vocalist at the 2003 Grammys. Early in the interview, Rivers asked, “What are you gonna do when you decide you hate your tattoos?” As deadpanned as humanly possible, Durst replied, “I’m probably gonna peel my skin off and sneak into your bedroom and sew it onto you, and when you wake up in the morning you absolutely freak.” It may have been the only time in her career when Rivers was left speechless.

“Kill yourselves!” was Serj Tankian’s advice to young artists while on the red carpet in 2016. The System of a Down legend was in attendance for the 19th Arpa International Film Festival, giving a moment to LAEXTV before the night began. Tankian eventually gave a thoughtful answer to this interviewer’s question, but not before shocking her with his first answer.

Deftones could not have given less of a fuck on the 2022 Grammys red carpet. Nominated for Best Metal Performance and Best Rock Performance, Chino Moreno and the boys might as well have been waiting in line at Starbucks. Zero energy, zero insight, 100% hilarious.

We don’t deserve Mudvayne. At the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, the nü-metal legends showed up to the red carpet in white suits with bloody bullet holes drilled into their foreheads. The red carpet reporter was clearly weirded out by the band, but the most surreal moment was a retrospective where fashion correspondents and celebrities legitimately gave Mudvayne the “hot or not?” treatment. 

Killswitch Engage were at their funniest during the Howard Jones years, and they made their mark (sorta like cats do) on the 2010 Golden Gods Awards black carpet. Jones and Adam D basically just screamed through this entire interview. Couldn’t have gone any better.