Slipknot (band) - Controversy

Controversy

Slipknot has been the subject of many controversies throughout their career, both for their image and their music. The lyrical content of some of Slipknot's songs has been linked to several violent and criminal incidents. One such case from 2003 involved a pair of young killers who blamed the lyrics from the song "Disasterpiece" for their vicious crime. Another from 2006 involved the lyrics from the song "Surfacing" being found at the site of a grave robbing. Slipknot deny any responsibility in cases like this and to date have not been proven to be liable in any cases of this nature. In 2008, vocalist Taylor commented on a stabbing in South Africa to which Slipknot were linked, saying that "obviously, I'm disturbed by the fact that people were hurt and someone died, as far as my responsibility for that goes, it stops there, because I know our message is actually very positive." He continued to say that "there are always going to be mental disorders and people who cause violence for no other reason than the fact that they're fucked up and lost."

The band's image has also been subjected to several controversies. A longstanding feud came from the band Mushroomhead, who - along with their fans - claimed that Slipknot "stole their image." While Slipknot acknowledged that their images had similarities, they never actively got involved in the feud, stating it was just a coincidence. Taylor explains: "we both started at the same time — neither one of us knowing anything about each other." Taylor also claims that at a live show in Cleveland, Ohio several Mushroomhead fans threw objects including a padlock at the band and when Slipknot was finished they along with Machine Head, and Amen went into the crowd and "handled it right there". In 2009, Mushroomhead vocalist Waylon Reavis stated that they were no longer interested in feuding with Slipknot, saying: "they're not the first masked band, we're not, no one was." Recently, a Facebook page called FilthyMaggots has been set up; its goal is to unite Slipknot and Mushroomhead with Mudvayne and Gwar in a big tour. More than 31,000 Facebook members have joined the page. Another controversy was the band's 2005 lawsuit against Burger King — claiming that the company created the advertising based band Coq Roq to capitalize on Slipknot's image. Burger King responded to the suit with a countersuit, pointing out that many other bands, such as Mr. Bungle, Mushroomhead, Mudvayne, Kiss, Insane Clown Posse and Gwar have used masks as part of their image. However, after negotiations, the advertising campaign and lawsuit were both dropped.