Slipknot sued for “callously” profiting from Joey Jordison’s death by drummer’s estate

Joey Jordison’s estate has filed a lawsuit against Slipknot, alleging the band “callously” used his untimely death as part of marketing for latest album The End, So Far, and profited from displaying items rightfully belonging to the drummer's family.

The suit, originally filed in June last year claims that Slipknot members Corey Taylor and Michael Shawn Crahan still have “at least 22 items” which have been featured as part of “a travel museum”, allowing the band to “line their pockets with profit off of Jordison’s devoted fanbase.”

Steamroller LLC, the company that manages Jordison's estate and filed the suit, further claims that “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.”

“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 delves into the circumstances surrounding Jordison’s departure from the band, after he began suffering from a debilitating neurological condition: “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 suit then criticises Taylor and Crahan’s behaviour in the wake of Jordison’s death in 2021, reading, “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.”

“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.”

Taylor and Crahan are yet to publicly respond to the lawsuit, though the band's legal team filed a response to the court asking that the suit 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."