A whiskey-fuelled disaster leaves fans—and his cat—disappointed
Electronic music superstar deadmau5 (real name Joel Zimmerman) has apologised after his alcohol-fuelled Coachella performance as Testpilot ended in chaos.
The producer, playing a B2B set with Zhu, was seen downing shots, slurring his words, and stumbling behind the decks before being helped offstage prematurely.
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In a series of Instagram posts, Zimmerman first joked, “I don’t remember a thing. But I don’t think I had a cig? So… that’s good I guess?” before later posting a more sincere apology alongside a photo of his unimpressed cat: “Sorry about last night. TO BE FAIR, I felt the first 3/4 was great! Huge shoutout to Zhu for carrying my dumb ass.” He concluded with a vow to reset, quit smoking, and return stronger.
@stagehoppers Deadmau5 shortly before getting kicked off stage for being drunk 😂 set was a good time though! #deadmau5 #coachella2025 #coachella ♬ original sound – Stage Hoppers
Fans captured clips of the erratic set, including questionable mixing and a near fall. Zimmerman later quipped, “Probably my last Coachella.”
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