Corey Taylor has spoken out against the recent attempts to ‘cancel’ Eminem over a lyric from his 2010 song ‘Love The Way You Lie’, comparing the condemnation to the Salem witch trials and asking “is that where we are right now?”.

The Slipknot frontman spoke about the rapper in a new interview in which he discussed ideas for his fifth book, which will follow on from 2017’s America 51: A Probe Into The Realities That Are Hiding Inside “The Greatest Country In The World”.

Taylor told 95.5 KLOS’s New & Approved series that he’s now “starting to get that itch” to write again and that he has “a concept in mind” for his next book (you can watch the book discussion at the 19:30 mark in the below video).

“It has to do with social media and the age that we live in — the ‘outrage age’,” he explained about the potential premise. “And it’s starting to really kind of form in my head, I may actually write it soon. Because it’s really kind of out-of-control out there right now.”

Taylor then spoke about the recent attempts by a number of TikTok users to ‘cancel’ Eminem over a controversial line in his 2010 Rihanna collaboration ‘Love The Way You Lie’.

“I was reading about how Gen Z is trying to ‘cancel’ Eminem because of one line that was in a Rihanna song that he did with her,” Taylor said. “And I’m just, like, is that where we are right now? I mean, at this point, you’re talking about the Salem witch trials. You’re talking about America in the ’20s where the KKK was a political force. You’re talking about complete condemnation without context or any rationalisation for an action like that.

“And to me, that’s [what’s] most dangerous — when the mob decides that you’re gone. That is Caesar at the Colosseum, for god’s sakes. That’s when it’s dangerous. The level of censorship that we’re starting to see… And I’m not saying that certain things haven’t been said that easily offend people.”

Taylor continued: “However, the flipside of that is that you can’t even make a joke any more — even in the cleanest of situations. [People] completely turn on you. And there’s not one hint of satire, there’s no hint of irony — it’s just all-out rage, and it’s all through this [shows his smartphone to the camera]. And that’s when it’s really greedy, that’s when it’s really dirty.

“It can’t be that way. If we can’t have a conversation, how the hell are we gonna communicate? And if we can’t understand the difference between metaphor and complete reality, then we’re in real trouble. And that’s where I’m leaning with the book.”

Taylor previously joked to Kerrang! that it had taken him up until relatively recently to “get over the hangover” from that 2017 book, adding that it was “probably time for me to get back on that horse and figure out what to do next”.

Last week Taylor confirmed that he is currently planning a socially distanced solo tour.

“It’ll be completely social-distanced, which means there’ll be pods with space around it, and the only people allowed in the pod are the people who came with that group,” he explained. “[There will be] temp checks at the door, and you have to have proof of a negative test within 48 hours [of the show], or you won’t be let in at all.”