The estate of Joey Jordison has sued Slipknot, accusing them of profiting off his death and never returning Jordison's equipment.
The lawsuit was filed in June by Steamroller, LLC, the successor in interest of Jordison, and claims that Slipknot never gave back roughly 22 of his items despite "promising to return all of Jordison's belongings." The lawsuit names members Corey Taylor and Michael Shawn "Clown" Crahan.
According to Blabbermouth, the lawsuit further claims that Slipknot then used Jordison's items "in a traveling Slipknot museum called Knotfest and line[d] their pockets with profit off of Jordison's devoted fanbase."
"After abruptly kicking Jordison out of Slipknot in 2013, 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," reads a portion of the complaint.
"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 lawsuit details Jordison's involvement in Slipknot, stating the band was founded in 1995 by himself, Crahan, and the late bassist Paul Gray. Crahan, Gray, Taylor and Jordison then entered into a partnership in 1999 and founded Slipknot Partnership.
The lawsuit further calls Slipknot's firing of Jordison in 2013 "callous" due to his ongoing issues with acute transverse myelitis, noting that Crahan and Taylor treated Jordison with "disdain."
"The callousness of Jordison's firing and other mistreatment at the hands of Crahan and Taylor have been widely reported and criticized 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 lawsuit then blasts Taylor and Crahan, claiming that Slipknot used Jordison's name and legacy to promote their latest record The End, So Far.
"While family, friends, and fans mourned the loss of the legendary drummer, neither bandmate expressed condolences to Jordison's family after his passing. Instead, Taylor and Crahan heartlessly sought to profit off of Jordison's death. Slipknot released a new album in 2022 titled The End, So Far. Fan reviews of the album rarely miss the opportunity to lament Jordison's absence.
"Taylor and Crahan callously used Jordison's death as marketing for their new album. Taylor publicly dedicated The End, So Far to Jordison, claiming that the realization of Jordison's passing 'crept in' while making the album. Taylor even acknowledged that he and Crahan had mistreated Jordison in an interview, telling fans that they 'were hoping to mend fences with him, and it's one of those things that tells you: whatever you need to do, do it now, because you never know when you're gonna lose somebody.'
"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."
The complaint further claims that Taylor and Crahan "have continued to profit off Jordison's death and his grieving fanbase to this day, by displaying Jordison's belongings at a traveling Slipknot museum called Knotfest. The museum has made numerous tour stops over the course of several years and [Taylor and Crahan] have profited handsomely from Jordison's fans' willingness to pay admission fees to view Jordison's iconic belongings in person."
Slipknot has since responded and have asked the lawsuit to be dismissed.
