It was just last week that the female vocalist of a metal band abruptly left the group for then-unknown reasons.
Her husband — the guitarist — soon followed (although he was let go). Now he and his former colleague are trading words over the incident via social media.
According to MetalSucks.net, lead singer of metal English outfit Cradle of Filth, Daniel Llyod David — better known by his stage name Dani Filth — posted his “side of the story” via Instagram on Saturday regarding the departure of singer Zoë M. Federoff — who left in the midst of the band’s tour — and the dismissal of her husband Marek “Ashok” Šmerda, who has been with the band since 2014.
In it, Filth seeks to clarify a couple of points that have been brought up by a joint statement from Federoff and Šmerda — specifically those regrading shady contract dealings — as well as claims Federoff made that the harsh and demanding work environment Filth cultivated caused her to miscarry her first pregnancy while on tour.
“While I understand touring is stressful and exhausting, I cannot excuse the effect it had on the rest of us,” Filth’s statement reads. “The decision to continue the tour without them was not taken lightly, but it was necessary for the band and crew.
“Also, no one knew anything about her pregnancy and if she was pregnant, why was she drinking at all? She even contacted management on several occasions asking for help in stopping drinking, with lengthy messages to prove this.”
Filth adds in a follow-up Facebook post that his mother is currently suffering from stage four cancer, and that the online attacks she’s seen against Filth “has only added to her distress.”
Šmerda responded to Filth’s most recent statement in his own statement posted to Facebook.
“Your mom [was] always a great person to me and I wish her healing,” Šmerda wrote. “Her heart is huge as far as I ever knew.
“However, it feels low to me to use her right now as [an] excuse when we all know she’s been sick since last year. Everyone has been there for you and supportive, Dan. We all give her so much love and support to her as soon as you tell us.”
Šmerda adds: “But if you respect mothers, then why twist our tragedy of miscarriage into something that was not true of my wife — she never drank while pregnant. However, her doctor told her the lack of sleep, irregular schedule, constant pressure of management threatening her job if she did anything they didn’t like… all of this more than likely contributed to her body rejecting the pregnancy.
“She exhibits high signs of the stress she is under. It is true we cannot blame it all on you, but for you to assume she was drinking with the pregnancy was low, because we all known there is very little that is worse to accuse [women] of than killing her own child.”
“I wish I could see a man when I look at you, Dan, but I don’t,” reads the statement. “I see excuses.”
Filth has yet to respond to this latest response as of the publishing of this report.
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