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Marilyn Manson And Justin Bieber Fought Over A T-Shirt
When we think of music beefs, we think of Tupac vs. Biggie, Neil Young vs. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Slipknot vs. Nickelback -- you know, the truly iconic rivalries between people competing for similar audiences. But every once in a while, you come across a real head-scratcher. Like that time Marilyn Manson felt slighted by Justin Bieber, of all people.
It all started in 2017, after the controversial pop star approached the controversial shock rocker, requesting permission to "repurpose" Manson's band's old merch.
Barneys New YorkWhich is a diplomatic way of saying "Sell your design for a 1,000% markup."
He didn't want to simply wear an altered T-shirt, mind you. All the laws of basic decency and good taste couldn't stop him from doing that. He wanted to sell the shirts, which were confusingly modified to add "Bieber" to the declaration "Bigger Than Satan" on the back. It doesn't take a deep knowledge of either the music industry or copyright law to figure that Bieber wouldn't be able to get away with that without signing a generous contract with the other party. But Manson decided to get more out of the deal by starting the most baffling one-sided feud in music history.
In an embarrassingly childish interview following the incident, Manson said that Bieber "was [already] wearing the shirt that had his name on my shirt, and he said to me, 'I made you relevant again.'" Just to remind us of how much of a tough guy he is, Manson added, "Bad mistake to say to me ... He was a real touchy-feely guy, too, like, 'yo yo bro!' and touches you when he's talking. I'm like, 'You need to stand down, you're dick height on me, OK?'" To cement the impression that he needs to one-up someone who was barely an adult, Manson laughed about how he'd jokingly told Bieber he'd stop by an upcoming concert to jam, and Bieber "believed that I'd show up, because he was that stupid."
We don't often feel sorry for Justin Bieber, but according to texts Manson subsequently shared during an interview with Howard Stern, the poor guy felt genuinely hurt and confused. Unless he was being seriously two-faced and trying to gaslight Manson into believing he never insulted him, he really thought that they had gotten along great.
Marilyn Manson, via JunkeeWe need to respond to more texts by just saying "Words."