Ex-Slipknot Percussionist Chris Fehn Drops Lawsuit Against Band
Former Slipknot percussionist Chris Fehn has dropped his lawsuit against the band, Corey Taylor, M. Shawn Crahan and a handful of associated business entities, indicating that an out-of-court settlement between the parties has likely been reached.
New court documents obtained by MetalSucks [with a heads up from Rock Feed], filed in the New York State Supreme Court on October 29, indicate that Fehn has agreed to stop pursuing the suit “with prejudice,” meaning he cannot refile on the same claims.
As indicated in a MetalSucks report in September, the two parties likely reached a monetary settlement via mediation, with the band essentially paying Fehn to drop the suit and go away. Due to the private nature of the mediation process, the exact amount of that settlement will never be known publicly unless one of the parties decides to share it, although it’s likely the deal also included a non-disclosure agreement and mutual disparagement clause preventing either party from revealing those details or speaking ill of one another.
In March of 2019, Fehn filed a series of suits against several Slipknot-related business entities as well as Corey Taylor and Shawn Crahan individually, alleging that the band had several entities dispersed between a handful of states which he did not know about, and they were using those entities to siphon money away from him. Fehn claimed that Slipknot were an equal partnership, and that he was due a commensurate portion of the band’s income but had recently been treated like a hired employee (which the band’s business manager then said he essentially was).
The October 29 document, titled a Notice of Voluntary Discontinuance and signed by Fehn’s attorney, Joseph A. Dunne, reads:
“Plaintiff CHRISTOPHER FEHN, by and through his undersigned counsel, and pursuant to NY CPLR § R3217(1), hereby affirms that the above-entitled action, be and the same is, hereby discontinued as against ALL DEFENDANTS, with prejudice and without costs to any party and this notice may be filed with the Clerk of the Court without further notice.”
And thus ends the Chris Fehn vs. Slipknot saga. Who of the many click-hungry metal media outlets (this one included) will be the first to get Fehn on the horn to talk about it? Ready, set… go!
You can download the latest court document here.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Fehn had dropped the suit “without prejudice.” The correct term is “with prejudice,” meaning he cannot file the same claims again.
