Cradle Of Filth frontman Dani “Filth” Davey has broken his silence on the legal battle brewing between the band and a group of its former members, insisting the outfit has nothing to answer for. Speaking with Hot Metal, the vocalist addressed the 2025 lawsuit filed against him and the group’s management, which grew out of allegations first raised by guitarist Marek “Ashok” Šmerda and keyboardist Zoe Marie Federoff when they left the band.
Dani was dismissive of the whole affair. “We just ignored it. We actually, as people, as a band, as me, had done absolutely zero wrong. It was blown out of proportion,” he said. “We’ve done an American tour, we’ve done summer festivals, we’re firing on all cylinders. Cradle are back. It never went away. It’s a shame, really, that this sort of thing happens. But life throws curveballs all the time.”
“People say, ‘Yeah, you’ve got a new lineup.’ Well, do you want a f**king show or not? Bands evolve,” Dani said. “Nobody really complains in the workplace if somebody leaves the office or the record label they’re working for or the radio show or magazine. It’s just a case of mutate and survive. We evolve. We evolve and move on.”
Notably, Hot Metal said it chose to leave out certain other comments Dani made about the case, explaining that representatives for his former bandmates disputed them and that the matter is in the process of moving jurisdiction to California — a reminder that the dispute remains active and unresolved.
The fallout dates back to last August, when Šmerda and Federoff, who are married, both announced they were leaving after 11- and three-year stints, respectively. Federoff departed immediately, while Šmerda initially planned to finish the band’s ongoing tour.
In her first post, Federoff wrote: “It is with deep regret I share that for personal reasons I am unable to continue this tour and continue in general with Cradle of Filth. Please respect my privacy and my family’s privacy. I will answer no further questions. Be kind to my successor. I wish her and my now former bandmates well.”
Šmerda was more pointed, writing that he and his wife “simply do not feel like Cradle can provide for our future, and in fact hinders it. Among other reasons it is a lot of work for relatively low pay, the stress is quite high, and we haven’t felt for a while like this band actually prioritizing/caring about members. It has been years of unprofessional behavior from people above us that led to our decision.”
Cradle Of Filth responded at the time with a statement of its own, claiming Šmerda had been fired following “attempts to illegally defame and derail the band.”
Dani also posted, then later apologized for, a lengthy statement airing personal details about his former bandmates, while continuing to reject their accusations of “theft” and “exploitation” as “false and damaging.”
The disagreement escalated into court in October 2025, when Šmerda and Federoff filed a legal complaint against Cradle Of Filth and their management company, Oracle, in Arizona, where the couple now live. The following month the complaint was amended to add more plaintiffs: former guitarists Richard Shaw and Paul Allender, keyboardist Lindsay Matheson, and model Sasha Baxter (also known as Sasha Massacre), who appeared in the band’s videos for “To Live Deliciously” and “Malignant Perfection“.
According to the filing, the plaintiffs allege unpaid royalties and the “unauthorized use and ongoing commercial exploitation of Plaintiffs’ likenesses and images in merchandise.” The suit claims some former members were never paid for studio time on the band’s last three albums — 2017’s Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness Of Decay, 2021’s Existence Is Futile and 2025’s The Screaming Of The Valkyries — and that Baxter was never compensated for the two videos or the merchandise bearing her likeness. Matheson, for her part, claims the band used sigils she created without approval or payment. Reports on the complaint also state it includes a defamation claim against Dani over a public remark concerning Federoff‘s pregnancy and miscarriage — an allegation the vocalist has denied.
None of the claims on either side has been tested or ruled on in court, and the case remains ongoing. Allender was in Cradle Of Filth across two spells (1992–1995 and 1999–2014), Shaw from 2014 to 2022, and Matheson from 2013 to 2020. The band’s most recent album, The Screaming Of The Valkyries, was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk, England, and the group has since carried on with a revamped lineup, including new guitarist Joff Bailey.
