Big Picture

Ashlee & Vincent Take NY Plus, Nicole Kidman hangs out with her family and Bradley Cooper is a grizzly guy. The latest pics!

MORE PHOTOS +

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.

Fashion Police

Angelina: Going Grey! Plus, Christina Hendricks, Vanessa Hudgens, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Michelle Williams and Kristen Wiig. Rate the highs and lows!

MORE PHOTOS +

Top Galleries

MORE PHOTOS +

Our Partners

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.

Parent Eschews Evanescence

Tue., Dec. 14, 2004 7:35 AM PST by Charlie Amter

Evanescence isn't known for stirring up controversy.

But the alternative outfit, which had been labeled a Christian rock band early in its career, is suddenly at the center of a lawsuit involving explicit lyrics and mega-retailer Wal-Mart.

A Maryland man sued the chain last week, claiming Wal-Mart violated its own explicit music policy by selling the band's new live CD/DVD, Anywhere But Home.

The complaint also fingers the band's label, Wind-Up Records, for failing to sticker the disc.

Per Trevin Skeens' complaint, the Maryland father gave his 13-year-old permission to purchase Anywhere, which unbeknownst to Dad, features "Thoughtless," a cover of a Korn song that includes the dreaded F-word. Skeens heard the F-bomb while in the car with his daughter and was not pleased.

"I don't want any other families to get this, expecting it to be clean. It needs to be removed from the shelves to prevent other children from hearing it," the plaintiff said, according to the Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Maryland.

The lawsuit, filed last Thursday, seeks an order requiring the nation's largest retailer to either censor or remove the offending disc from its Maryland stores. Skeens' suit is also of the class-action variety, meaning others who can prove they bought the disc at a Maryland Wal-Mart and experienced the same horror upon discovering the obscenity may be entitled to up to $74,500 apiece, should the lawsuit make it that far.

Wal-Mart hasn't yet issued an official statement on the suit, but spokesman Guy Whitcomb told the Herald-Mail that the company will investigate the allegations.

"While Wal-Mart sets high standards, it would not be possible to eliminate every image, word or topic that an individual might find objectionable," Whitcomb told the paper.

The big box has long had a policy banning the sale of explicit music at its stores. Some have called the policy censorship, but the chain prefers to call it "target marketing" for their family-valuing shoppers. The chain has also nixed a few high-profile, yet apparently too racy books recently, including The Daily Show's best-selling tome, America: The Book.

"The goal is not to eliminate the need for parents to review the merchandise their children buy," said Whitcomb. "The policy simply helps eliminate the most objectionable material from Wal-Mart's shelves."

Perhaps Wal-Mart was expecting a pass on Anywhere, as Evanescence typically receives high praise from parents for its sweeping, spiritual brand of rock. Ironically, the foursome hail from Arkansas--where Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters is located.

But a key claim of the plaintiff's suit is that Wal-Mart knew about the explicit lyrics in the offending song, because the chain censored the track in a free sample available on its Website and in its stores.

The band caught in the middle of the controversy has yet to weigh in on the lawsuit. The Amy Lee-led group recently performed at the Billboard Music Awards and plans to start working on a follow-up to their multiplatinum smash Fallen early next year.