Marilyn Manson Trolled Justin Bieber

Speaking of mainstream culture co-opting metal fashion: you may recall that last year Justin Bieber slapped his name on an old Marilyn Manson shirt from the ’90s and charged $200 for it. This despite the fact that Hot Topic was selling an identical design, minus Bieber’s name, for a mere seventeen bucks.

At the time, Bieber claimed that he had gotten Manson’s permission to make the shirt, which seemed plausible. After all, the handlers for a big star like Justin Bieber wouldn’t be so stupid as to put out an unlicensed shirt prominently featuring the name and face of another well-known musician, would they?

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Uh, well… actually, according to Manson at least, they would. From a new Consequence of Sound profile piece:

Manson says that when he first met Bieber “he was [already] wearing the shirt that had his name on my shirt, and he said to me, ‘I made you relevant again.’” “Bad mistake to say to me,” Manson adds.

“The next day I told him I’d be at his soundcheck at Staples Center to do ‘Beautiful People’,” Manson recounts, at which point Bieber confessed that the t-shirt “was his idea.” Manson never intended to perform with Bieber, but “he believed that I’d show up, because he was that stupid.”

Manson says he eventually “took all the proceeds from those shirts from him. They didn’t even fight, they were just like, ‘yea, we already know, we did wrong, so here’s the money.’

“He was a real piece of shit in the way he had the arrogance to say that,” Manson says of Bieber. “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? (laughs) Alright? So stand down, son.”

Again, this is just Manson’s side of the story, and he obviously has something to gain from portraying himself as someone who fuck with Justin Bieber, so who knows. But in my imagination, at least, this is a true story that ends with Bieber crying when Manson never showed for soundcheck. Just because that’s the funniest possible version of events.

Manson’s new album, Heaven Upside Down, comes out October 6. Check out the first single, “We Know Where You Fucking Live,” below.