Slipknot are being sued by the estate of their late original drummer Joey Jordison for allegedly profiting from his death.
A lawsuit, filed in June, accused the heavy metal group 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.”
Jordison was fired from the ‘Snuff’ group in 2013 and passed away in July 2021 at the age of 46.
The suit names frontman Corey Taylor and percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan and accuses them of not fulfilling a “written agreement” to give back all 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 of 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 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 claims 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 have denied all the allegations made against them and called for the case to be dismissed.
A statement from their legal representative 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.”