Dani Filth Sued by 5 Ex- Band Members
- Jrocks Metalzone
- 5 days ago
- 1 min read
Five former Cradle of Filth members – including ex-guitarist Marek "Ashok" Šmerda and ex-keyboardist Zoe Marie Federoff – are suing frontman Dani Filth, the band’s management and multiple other parties over copyright infringement, defamation and related transgressions.
On Nov. 26 – and following a Reddit post created earlier that day that’s since been deleted –The PRP broke the news about the situation. In their write-up, they specified that the lawsuit follows the drama that emerged this past summer involving Šmerda and Federoff (who’re married) parting ways with Cradle of Filth as tensions escalated between the couple, Dani Filth, and Cradle of Filth’s management over contractual issues and the like.
The PRP then reported that “several former members of Cradle Of Filth have now joined forces to file suit against the band’s vocalist Dani Filth, the band’s associated companies, and The Oracle Management.”
The PRP continue:
"That suit was first filed Arizona on September 30th, 2025, but was most recently amended on November 20th. The plaintiffs include not only Zoe Federoff Smerda & Marek Smerda, but also several other former members of Cradle Of Filth. Those other individuals include Paul Allender, who handled guitar for the band across two stints, including a first run in 1992-1995 and another from 1999-2014".
Lindsay Matheson (aka Lindsay Schoolcraft,) who handled keyboards and vocals for the group from 2013-2020 is also listed as a plaintiff in the suit, as is Richard Shaw, who played guitar for the band from 2014 to 2022. Sasha Baxter (aka Sasha Massacre), a woman who starred in a pair of music videos from the band, is also listed as a plaintiff.
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