Staind’s Aaron Lewis and Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland Are No Longer Pals
Staind got to take their shot at the big time partly because of an early leg up from the guys in Limp Bizkit, but that hasn't translated into a forever friendship between Staind frontman Aaron Lewis and Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland — in fact, an ongoing public feud between the two boiled over into Lewis' between-song patter during his show on April 14.
As NME points out, the beef between the two seems to have started when they bumped into one another at the airport. Lewis asked Borland where he was heading, and when Borland replied that he was going "home to L.A.," Lewis took the opportunity to remind Borland that they're both from Florida. Whatever the intent, Borland — who pointed out he's lived in Los Angeles "longer than I've lived in any city in my life" — took offense.
"I just went, ‘Fuck you, man.’ And I never talked to him again after that," Borland told podcast host Joshua Toomey. "That guy is such a dickhead. So full of himself, such a dickhead. I wish nothing but the worst for him. Amen. I could not believe the audacity and just, like, pretentiousness — especially for somebody that acts like they’re like a country boy now and they’re from Illinois. Anyway, disgusting person. No thanks. Peace."
Lewis fired back from the stage in Las Vegas on April 14, telling the crowd that although Borland is "part of the whole reason that I’m standing here right now in front of you," he's ready to write off their friendship too, and prefaced his performance of Staind's 2001 hit "Outside" by giving credit for the group's early success to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst instead. (You can watch the incident in the video below.)
"For reminding my brother, one of the people that are responsible for me standing in front of you this evening, reminding my fucking brother where the fuck he’s from ... now I’m the biggest piece of shit to ever fucking walk the face of the earth," said Lewis. "So you know what? Wes Borland, you bougie motherfucker, I give all the credit to this next song to Fred. Fuck you."
Borland, meanwhile, doesn't seem terribly bothered by Lewis' outburst; in an Instagram post, he shrugged it off, saying he hopes it means he never needs to "endure interfacing with him again."