Joey Jordison’s estate has settled its lawsuit against Slipknot.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that the heavy metal group were being sued by the estate of their late original drummer – who passed away in July 2021 at the age of 46 – for allegedly profiting from his death.
A lawsuit, filed last June, accused the ‘Snuff’ rockers of using his name and personal belongings for Knotsfest – the group’s touring festival – and alleged that they “lined their pockets with profit off of Jordison’s devoted fanbase.”
However, according to legal documents obtained by Blabbermouth.net, “a notice of unconditional settlement” was filed on September 17 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, along with a request for the case to be dismissed.
The suit named frontman Corey Taylor, 50, and percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan, 55, and accused them of not fulfilling a “written agreement” to give back all of Jordison’s items.
It read: “After abruptly kicking Jordison out of Slipknot in 2013, [Corey] Taylor and Crahan expressly promised in a written agreement to return all Jordison’s belongings in exchange for Jordison’s promise to release certain claims against them.
“The agreement contained a non-exclusive list of broad categories of items that [Taylor and Crahan] represented were in their possession and that they would return to Jordison. [Taylor and Crahan] purported to comply with the agreement by returning certain items to Jordison but, unbeknownst to Jordison, [they] had executed the agreement with no intention of performing their obligations thereunder, and knowingly concealed from Jordison that they possessed numerous other items belonging to Jordison that they never returned to him.”
The document went on to describe the harsh firing of Jordison in 2013, and alleged that the pair “handsomely profited” from his efforts to make Slipknot a “metal sensation”.
It continued: “The callousness of Jordison’s firing and other mistreatment at the hands of Crahan and Taylor have been widely reported and criticised by fans of the band. Since the 1990s, Jordison had dedicated his life to making Slipknot a metal sensation, from which Crahan and Taylor handsomely profited. It made no sense why Crahan and Taylor would treat Jordison with such disdain, especially in light of Jordison’s declining health.”
The estate also claimed the pair made a “blatant lie” about contacting the family to offer their condolences following Jordison’s passing.
The suit added: “Perhaps worst of all, Crahan and Taylor publicly lied to fans that they had contacted Jordison’s family to check on them and express their condolences and love for Jordison in the wake of his passing. This was utterly false, and deeply upsetting for Jordison’s family to read such a blatant lie on the internet. It is clear that Taylor and Crahan did not actually care about Jordison or his family; they cared only about drumming up publicity and sales of the new album.”
Slipknot denied all the allegations made against them and called for the case to be dismissed.
A statement from their legal representative at the time read: “Defendants generally deny each and every allegation and purported claim set forth in Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint and further deny that Plaintiff is entitled to any relief whatsoever.”