Joey Jordison’s Estate Suing Slipknot

January 2, 2024

Messy: (of a situation) confused and difficult to deal with. The estate of founding / original Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison is suing the band, accusing the band of profiting from his death and failing to return his personal possessions.

Jordison formed Slipknot in 1995 with Paul Gray and Shawn “Clown” Crahan and was fired from the band in 2013, with the band citing personal reasons. Jordison later shared that he suffered from the neurological disease transverse myelitis. He died in July 2021 at 46 years old.

In the lawsuit, Jordison’s estate claims that Slipknot continued to use Jordison’s name and personal belongings “in a travelling Slipknot museum called Knotfest and lined their pockets with profit off of Jordison’s devoted fanbase”.

The suit alleges, “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 suit also describes Jordison’s removal from the band: “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.”

It continues with allegations about the rest of the band’s reaction following Jordison’s death. “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.”

Responding, Slipknot’s legal team have asked for the suit to be dismissed, “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.”

Oh this is messy. As a fan of the band (and Jordison), this is a tough write/read. Not sure how this ends well.

 

Written by Todd Hancock

COMMENTS