Insane Clown Posse would probably be among the first to admit that their appeal isn’t exactly highbrow.
The antics of the Michigan hip-hop duo and their dedicated Juggalos – their cult-like fan following – have always flirted with controversy, but the make-up wearing mock horror rappers may have crossed the line.
Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and their label, Psychopathic Records, are being sued in a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former publicist and attorney who accuses the group of nearly four years’ worth of “horror, outrage and indignity,” revolving around sexually explicit verbal abuse and illicit proposals, according to TMZ.
Andrea Pellegrini is the former Former Psychopathic Records employee who has taken legal action against ICP, claiming she was sacked after reporting the sexual abuse to label executives.
According to the suit, filed in Michigan, Ms Pellegrini was subject to a long list of outrageous and illicit requests – involving sex toys, vaginal devices, and illegal firearms – allegedly stemming back as far as 2009.
The full lawsuit (which can be viewed here legal eagles) reaches a total tally of 86 alleged offences by ICP’s Shaggy 2 Dope (real name Joseph Utsler) and Violent J (Joseph Bruce), as well as Psychopathic Records employee Dan ‘Dirty Dan’ Diamond. Pellegrini was subject to a long list of outrageous and illicit requests – involving sex toys, vaginal devices, and illegal firearms – allegedly stemming back as far as 2009.
Among the more extreme examples include claims that in 2012, Dirty Dan told Pellegrini “he had a ‘fat cock’ and that ‘he’d like to fuck her’,” while later that year presenting her with a “clear dildo” as an office gift after learning she had become single through social media. The same day, the former ICP publicist says she was one of three female workers that were gifted with “vagina tighteners” by management.
At the August 2012 Gathering of the Juggalos – ICP’s very own annual music festival – Pellegrini alleges she was barred from using the private bathrooms and instead forced to share facilities that were “often full with naked male strangers.”
Pellegrini’s lawsuit also describes being physically threatened by Violent J’s girlfriend, was emotionally abused and demeaned by members of Psychopathic Records, and was regularly referred to as “bitch” in the office, and also refused business cards and discouraged from telling people she was employed at the label, as Huffington Post points out.
There are also accusations that she was manipulated by ICP and their label to procure illegal “automatic tommy guns” for a photo shoot, as well as alleging that Psychopathic Records members had lied to federal investigators over cutbacks and exemptions in payment from overtime.
Pellegrini is suing for wrongful termination of employment and wants financial compensation for the emotional distress suffered, including “fright and shock”, and conduct that was “extreme and outrageous and exceeds the bounds of human decency.”
Psychopathic Records and Insane Clown Posse have yet to comment on the allegations, but judging by the reactions of Juggalos on social media, there’s few surprised by the accusations; after all, this is the group that counter-sued the FBI after they labelled the ICP following as ‘a gang‘.
Violent J once told the Associated Press that Insane Clown Posse, who were recently named as one of the top 15 most hated bands of the last 30 years, were “the only group in the position in the history of rock ‘n’ roll that ever sold as many millions of records as we had and had as much success as we’ve had and it’s still considered a joke… we love to be hated.”
