deadmau5, who later admitted to blacking out, experienced a sound cut during his performance with ZHU at Coachella 2025.

Step aside, Grimes — the latest Coachella controversy has emerged, and it’s quite the spectacle. deadmau5 is known for his nonchalant attitude during DJ performances, but he took it to another level during his back-to-back set with ZHU at the Quasar stage on Friday night.

Footage shows deadmau5 (real name Joel Zimmerman), who performed under his Testpilot techno alias, taking shots, mixing poorly, and even stumbling on stage. The sound abruptly cut off before the set concluded. Zimmerman addressed the crowd over the mic, stating, “They were actually like, ‘That’s it.’ Goodnight! Thank you so much!”

Zimmerman later commented on the incident in two Instagram posts of differing tones. “I don’t remember a thing. But I don’t think I had a cig? So… that’s good I guess?” he wrote in his first post, accompanied by a photo of a water bottle, referencing earlier posts about quitting smoking. “Going back to bed. Wake me up around Thursday-ish.”

In the second post, he wrote, “Man, even my cat is disappointed in me. Tho, it could be argued that she always has been. Sorry about last night.” He also noted, “TO BE FAIR, I felt the first 3/4 was great! Huge shout out to ZHU for introducing me to whisky and carrying my dumb ass till the bitter end.”

Longtime fans of Zimmerman may find this incident ironic, given his previous stance on drug culture. In 2012, he criticized Madonna for playfully asking, “has anyone seen Molly” during the Ultra Music Festival. He later stated on his website, “I’m not pro, or anti-drug, but I’ll easily let you know that I’m pro-responsibility.”

In a comment on his initial Instagram post, Zimmerman hinted that this might be “Probably my last Coachella show.” Given the circumstances, it’s understandable — many would feel too embarrassed to return to a festival after such an incident.