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The Vestal Masturbation T-shirt was a piece of merchandise released by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth in 1993. The shirt consisted of a picture of a masturbating, semi-nude nun on the front with the words "Vestal Masturbation" below, and on the back the phrase "Jesus is a cunt". The shirt resulted in arrests of multiple people who wore it in public.

History

The shirt was created in 1993, before Cradle of Filth were to do a tour alongside fellow metal band Emperor. While they had the idea of the nun at the time, it was later decided to add the phrase "Jesus is a cunt" to it, although Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth does not remember who it was who suggested the phrase. Dani's wife worked at a T-shirt printing company in Hadleigh, Suffolk, but the company refused to print it. Eventually, they found a printer willing to do but they were paid cash-in-hand, and the printer gave the band the screens used to print the shirt rather than keep them themselves. Over 25,000 copies of the shirt were sold within the first six years of production.

Arrests and legal issues

In 1994, 18-year-old Paul Timms, a member of black metal band Necropolis, wore the shirt when the band were on trial for damaging seven churches and a graveyard in Kent at an estimated cost of £100,000, in imitation of similar attacks committed by members of the early Norwegian black metal scene. All four members were given 30 month-prison sentences, although due to his age Timms was sent to HM Prison Rochester, a young offender institution.

In 1996, a 29-year-old fan of Cradle of Filth was arrested and found guilty of profane representation under the Metropolitan Police Act 1839 for wearing the shirt in public. He was fined £150 (equivalent to £355.64 in 2023).

Cradle of Filth's drummer Nicholas Barker was arrested for wearing the shirt in May 1997 while the band were waiting to take a ferry from England to perform in the Netherlands. He was released after two hours without charge and was able to make the performance.

In November 1997, a 24-year-old record store clerk in Ocala, Florida was arrested by police for wearing the shirt in a shopping mall. A jury acquitted him of all charges.

In 2001, Alex Mosson, Lord Provost of Glasgow, campaigned for the shirt to be removed from Glasgow's branch of Tower Records. The shop was raided twice by police, but the owners of the shop argued that they were not acting illegally, and later sold all of their stock of the shirt partly due to local media coverage. The shop eventually stopped selling the shirt.

On Halloween 2004, a person in Norwich was arrested for wearing the shirt in public. He pleaded guilty to "religiously aggravated offensive conduct". He was fined £150 (equivalent to £290.88 in 2023) and the judge at the trial ordered for the shirt to be destroyed.

In 2005, 19-year-old Adam Shepherd from Weymouth, Dorset was arrested for wearing the shirt under the recently created anti-hate laws which banned the public display of religiously insulting signs. He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 80 hours community service, and was ordered to pay court costs of £40 (equivalent to £75.44 in 2023). Dani Filth publicly criticised the arrest.

In November 2007, Electric Cabaret in Edinburgh was raided by an undercover police officer for selling the shirt, and the owner was charged with selling obscene material aggravated by religious prejudice. He defended himself saying that he only ordered the shirt because teenage customers ordered it. The charges were dropped.

In 2008, a teenager in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia was arrested for wearing the shirt and charged with offensive behaviour. In July 2008, the shirt was officially banned in New Zealand; however, this ban was downgraded in 2020 so the shirt could be sold to people over 18. In 2015, the shirt was part of a display at Canterbury Museum, Christchurch. In protest against the display, a woman attempted to obscure the shirt by spraying it with black paint. The shirt was undamaged as it was behind a perspex barrier, which was later cleaned.

References

1. Epstein, Dan (25 June 2015). "The Story of the Most Controversial Shirt in Rock History (Page 1)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
2. ^ Epstein, Dan (25 June 2015). "The Story of the Most Controversial Shirt in Rock History (Page 2)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
3. Young, Simon (16 March 2021). "Remembering when an unknown metal band sent Britain into a Satanic panic". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
4. Moynihan, Michael; Søderlind, Didrik (2003). Lords of Chaos. Port Townsend, Washington: Feral House. pp. 318–319. ISBN 978-0-922915-94-1.
5. ^ Travers, Paul (22 January 2019). "Remembering The Cradle Of Filth "Jesus Is A C**t" T-Shirt Controversy". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
6. ^ Moskovitch, Greg (16 November 2016). "The Story Behind The Most Controversial Band T-Shirt Of All Time". Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
7. "The Filth and The Fury". NME. 11 January 2001. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
8. "Dani Filth Comments On Latest Offensive T-Shirt Saga". Metal Underground. 29 October 2005. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
9. "No Trial For Shop Owner Who Sold 'Obscene' CRADLE OF FILTH T-Shirt". Blabbermouth.net. 8 November 2007. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
10. Epstein, Dan (25 June 2015). "The Story of the Most Controversial Shirt in Rock History (Page 3)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
11. "Censor's Ban on "Cradle of Filth" T-shirt". Scoop. 1 July 2008. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
12. "Vestal Masturbation (Cradle of Filth T-Shirt) by Office of Film and Literature Classification". Internet Archive. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
13. "'Offensive' CRADLE OF FILTH T-Shirt In New Zealand Museum Exhibition". Blabbermouth.net. 12 February 2015. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
14. Hartmann, Graham (17 February 2015). "Woman Attempts to Deface Anti-Christian Cradle of Filth Shirt at New Zealand Museum". Loudwire. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.

• 1993 in the arts
• Blasphemy
• Cradle of Filth
• Obscenity controversies in music
• T-shirts
• Female masturbation
• Christianity-related mass media and entertainment controversies
• Clothing controversies