A settlement has been reached between the estate of the late Joey Jordison and his ex-band Slipknot. A pivotal force through the multi-platinum masked metal group’s early years through to his 2013 dismissal, Jordison tragically passed away in July of 2021 at the age of 46.
In late 2023, the representatives for the estate of Jordison filed suit against the band, alleging that vocalist Corey Taylor & percussionist M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan — whom various legal documents have indicated are the shot callers behind the band — were trying to profit from Jordison‘s image and likeness. Among their claims was the band were promoting their 2021 album “The End, So Far” as a tribute to Jordison.
The estate also disputed the pair’s claims that they had contact with Jordison‘s family after his death. Furthermore, they alleged that some 22 items related to, or once belonging to Jordison, were shown at ‘Knotfest‘ event exhibits, rather than being turned over to the estate. The estate claimed that was a violation of an agreement that had been previously reached on the matter. The terms of 2015 agreement saw several parties related to the Slipknot camp buying out Jordison‘s interest the Slipknot partnership.
One passage from that initial complaint filed against the band by the estate, read:
“While family, friends, and fans mourned the loss of the legendary drummer, neither bandmate [Taylor or Crahan] 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.'”
It was later stated in the complaint:
“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. 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.”
Slipknot sought out to initially dismiss the suit, but now Blabbermouth.net report that the two parties have reached a settlement. Steamroller, LLC, who represent the interests of the estate, filed notice of an unconditional settlement in a Los Angeles County Superior Court on September 17th, putting forth a request to have their complaint against the band dismissed. Terms of the settlement were not publicly disclosed.
