Second Cradle of Filth Member Calls It Quits Ahead of Ed Sheeran Collaboration Release

Photo Credit: Marek “Ashok” Šmerda (Instagram)

Cradle of Filth guitarist Marek “Ashok” Šmerda confirms he will quit the band after its current Latin American tour due to “low pay” and “stress.”

Just after Cradle of Filth keyboardist and backing singer Zoë M. Federoff abruptly quit the band mid-tour due to “personal reasons,” her husband, guitarist Marek “Ashok” Šmerda, confirmed he too will be calling it quits. The news first came on Monday (August 25) when Federoff exited the band, while she mentioned that her husband would soon leave the band as well.

The next day (August 26), Šmerda released a statement explaining the reasons for the couple’s exit. He also requested that his contributions be removed from any future releases, including the band’s as yet unreleased collaboration with pop star Ed Sheeran.

“I ask you to please respect my wife and myself in this transitional period,” his letter began. “I am indeed leaving Cradle of Filth at the end of this current tour, and the reasons behind this are conclusions my wife and I came together at long before this week.”

“We simply do not feel like Cradle can provide for our future, and in fact hinders it,” Ashok explained. “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 [prioritizes] members. It has been years of unprofessional behavior from people above us that led to our decision.”

“I have also asked all compositions of mine removed from upcoming releases, including Ed Sheeran collab. This song feels like foolish clown antics for me at this point anyways—first it was charity single for kids, then for-profit single, then on next album, and now who knows,” his statement continues. “And I just do not want to be involved anymore, no disrespect to Ed Sheeran.”

Ashok vows to “finish this tour strong,” explaining that he is sad not to share the stage with his wife for the remainder of his time with the band, but that he respects why she left. Lastly, he finishes his statement by telling fans to leave his wife alone after her decision to quit ahead of the tour’s completion.

Meanwhile, Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth issued his own statement on the band’s goings on this week.

“It’s been an extremely dramatic week out here on the road in South America, with the sudden departure of Zoe from the band and the sum total a day ago of eleven hours sleep in four days, due to some very early morning lobby calls and late arrivals back at the hotels.”

“Thank you for all your continued support and for not listening to all the bullshit rumors and sickly worms presiding over the internet,” Filth’s statement continued. “Cradle of Filth ALWAYS comes back better and stronger than ever, and that will be no different this time when we unleash our new album in the foreseeable future.”

However, Dani Filth’s statement seems to downplay the matter, as an official statement from the band was released just a few hours later. This statement referred to Šmerda’s departure as a firing, making it clear that the guitarist’s statement vowing to finish the tour before leaving was overridden by the band.

“Despite all attempts to illegally defame and derail the band, Cradle of Filth will NOT cancel any of our South American shows, though fans will have to bear with us being a band with only one guitarist live, that is of course until Ashok’s temporary replacement is flown out to join the tour in a few days time.”

“Thank you for your understanding in this horrible matter,” the band’s statement continues. “We are all in a state of shock over proceedings and will share our side to these unfortunate events in due course. Please, respect our decision to part with Ashok now rather than at the end of the tour and avoid speculation as more clarity on the situation will be provided.”

Šmerda and Federoff got married at the beginning of the year at an Arizona ceremony attended by members of the band. Their departure from the band has led to rumors that they are having marital problems, but both have denied this is the case.

Link to the source article – https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2025/08/26/cradle-of-filth-second-member-leaves/