There is a craze in America right now with creepy clowns. If you're not up to date, Vox has a great explainer about what's going on. In short, people are getting dressed as creepy clowns and committing crimes, scaring townfolk. This has led to a lot of negative publicity towards clowns in general.
The occasion led to some kidding around from Corey Taylor on BBC2’s comedy show No Such Thing As The News, where he revealed Clown will go by Mime "until the coast is clear."
The story ended up being picked up by British music site NME as legitamite:
Clown, real name Shawn Crahan, has announced he will now be known as Mime “until the coast is clear”.
He made the announcement after a wave of copycat knife attacks by people dressed as clowns, which started in the US and have spread to the UK, where a number of schools have been placed on lockdown in fear of further incidents.
The name change statement was made by Slipknot singer Corey Taylor, who hit out at the attacks. Taylor told BBC2’s topical comedy show No Such Thing As The News: “Even our dear Clown has downgraded himself to Mime, in order to distance himself from these hedonistic doppelgangers until the coast is clear.”
Taylor said he was angered by the clown attackers’ intimidation, adding: “Remember, a real clown doesn’t need a knife to intimidate – just a bat and a good cold stare.”
Exactly! What happened to the good old days, where the creepy clowns were just on stage with baseball bats hitting garbage cans? Anyway, we were sure the whole thing was a joke when Taylor retweeted Entertainment Weekly's version of the story laughing about it.
Just in case you still weren't convinced, Corey Taylor made it nice and clear for everybody:
Guys-
No, Clown did NOT change his name. That was a FAKE statement for @qipodcast THAT I WROTE for humor's sake.
Cut n Paste journos… ??— Corey Taylor (@CoreyTaylorRock) October 13, 2016
