“Our lawyer called it the most psychopathic contract a session musician could ever be handed”: Six former Cradle of Filth members file lawsuit against Dani Filth and the band’s management

Six former members of Cradle of Filth have filed a lawsuit against bandleader Dani Filth and the group's management.

It follows allegations levelled at the vocalist by guitarist Marek “Ashok” Šmerda and keyboardist Zoe Marie Federoff. The pair quit the British death metal outfit in August over alleged poor pay and “psychopathic” contracts.

The husband-and-wife pair are among the six to have filed legal papers in Arizona. Two other guitarists, Paul Allender, who was in the band for two spells (1992-1995 and 1999-2014), and Richard Shaw (2014-2022), are also involved. Another keyboardist, Lindsay Matheson (2013-2020), and model Sasha Baxter (aka Sasha Massacre), who featured in the two recent music videos for To Live Deliciously and Malignant Perfection, are also named as plaintiffs.

Their complaints concern alleged copyright infringement, misappropriation of the plaintiffs’ likenesses in merchandise, defamation, unpaid royalties for live shows and recordings, and unauthorised use of copyright.

In August, Ashok and Federoff issued in-depth statements regarding their alleged treatment.

“It is a lot of work for relatively low pay, the stress is quite high, and we haven’t felt like this band actually prioritizes/cares about its members,” Ashok had alleged.

Federoff's statement, posted to Instagram, also cites “the theft of album advance money” and being called a “cancer” and “a dead horse” when she made inquiries to management.

“The frontman does nothing to stop them and hides behind them while they belittle and steal,” she claimed. “We hold the frontman responsible for hiring this management and never advocating for his team, only himself.”

The collective is suing Dani Filth (whose real name is Daniel Lloyd Davey), Cradle Of Filth Touring Limited, Cradle Of Filth LLP, and The Oracle Management.

Filth has yet to respond directly to the lawsuit. However, he had initially responded to the allegations issued in August, saying, “I won’t let unfounded slander define this band or diminish the work we’ve put into it.”

You can read his full statement, issued via Instagram in September, below.