Back in 2007, former Marilyn Manson keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy (née Stephen Bier but also known as Pogo) brought suit against Marilyn Manson himself (née Brian Warner) for breach of contract, alleging that MM spent band money that should be shared among all members of Marilyn Manson on personal items (including Nazi paraphernalia, an engagement ring for Dita von Teese, a skeleton of a young child and other creepy things). The lawsuit was settled on December 11 but MM just decided to chime in on the matter on his official My Space blog early this morning. Here are some deets about the suit settlement and the full (colorful) blog posts from Marilyn Manson:
Stephen Bier, better known by the stage names Pogo and Madonna Wayne Gacy, brought his breach-of-contract suit in Los Angeles Superior Court in August 2007 against Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner. The law firm of Grodsky & Olecki also was among numerous other defendants named. Bier, who was seeking more than $20 million, alleged Manson used money from their former band partnership to buy items ranging from Nazi paraphernalia to a $150,000 engagement ring for ex-wife Dita Von Teese. Lawyers told Judge Michael L. Stern on Dec. 11 that a settlement was reached, but that some matters had to be completed before he could dismiss the case. The terms of the accord were not divulged. On Thursday, the settlement effort hit a snag when Grodsky & Olecki filed a lien for attorneys’ fees stemming from their successful effort to persuade Stern to dismiss all of Bier’s allegations against them in November 2007. Stern’s ruling was upheld by a panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal on June 4. The firm now wants to be paid from the settlement money and their lien at least temporarily puts a hold on a complete resolution of the case. Stern scheduled a hearing for Jan. 15 on any further motions regarding the settlement. Grodsky & Olecki represented both Bier and Manson while they were involved in previous litigation involving a third party. The allegations against the firm involved Bier’s contention that it breached its duty to him with an alleged “threat letter” that was “a transparent attempt by Manson to frighten Bier into leaving the band,” according to the keyboardist’s court papers. But Stern agreed with the firm’s lawyers that the letter was written in contemplation that Bier might file a lawsuit and was therefore protected. Bier’s lawyer, Olaf J. Muller, said that despite the temporary setback due to the filing of the lien, Bier is for the most part happy with the resolution of the case.
So while Madonna Wayne Gacy (Bier) may be pleased with the outcome, what do you suppose Marilyn Manson (Warner) feels about the matter? After the jump, find out for yourselves …
Monday, December 21, 2009
thieves, rapists and traitors
I want to make clear that, aside from the wasted legal fees, in no way did I pay off the person that stood behind a keyboard–pretending to play music other artists in this band wrote. And I would not piss on Pogo if he was on fire. Thee end. Or is it? Let’s wait until all the really bad things I covered up for him are suddenly uncovered. I got a far more severe type of karma for traitors and people that owe me, legally alot more than what I wasted tolerating your rape of a band you never deserved to be in. M
12:29 AM
Monday, December 21, 2009
And i don’t want this to be confused as anger.
I feel nothing for a person that betrayed me and my band. My band. And I’m sure that if anyone wants to discuss this with him personally, I won’t be so rude to NOT give you his or his family’s addresses. Since I payed for both soon to be destroyed buildings. That’s at least what I just had a dream of, that I awoke from. So good luck to you sir. You are gonna need it Sweet dreams M
12:40 AM
OY! These two and their fighting. I can’t imagine that Marilyn Manson is very easy to work with and despite how close you may be with him, he seems like the kind of person who would happily cut you out of his life if you ever pissed him off. I’m happy to know that Bier is happy with his settlement, tho I’d advise staying well away from MM himself. MM‘s thinly veiled threats are not hard to decipher and he strikes me as the kind of irrational person who just might do something drastic in a passionate moment. It sucks that this is what the band Marilyn Manson has devolved into … they used to be a great band. Sad.
Um…Marilyn Manson is Jewish….So…why would he have Nazi collectables?
Cocaine = paranoia. Obviously.
It must be a blast to be the attorney trying to represent MM…
uhhhh this kid thinks his share of the bands profits should be 20M? how the hell much money did they even make?? hells bells!
@rob….mostly cause he’s a massive freak.
Isn’t Pogo the one Alyson Hannigan dated for like a year? Between Pogo and her husband I really don’t understand her taste in men
I mean her “type” of man, obviously Alexis is dreamy
MM is a joke. His music is a joke. He is just disgustingly weird, and I cannot stand him. Him and Courtney Love would make a perfect couple and could just drop off the face of the earth together.
@Bee unfortunately everyone different for u is a freak. how sad and pitiful ur life is. i hope you look back at that.
I think the band had their good days. But then again, if you’re judging with the musical shift. I think it’s pretty creative to NOT copy the same album. everyone complains about how his album dont sound the same. isnt that art?
geez.
@ rob – Manson is certainly not Jewish.
http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=82
He was raised Catholic and later donned robes in the Church of Satan. Even if part of his family was Jewish, he has never, ever practiced.
Is no one else bothered by him spending money on the skeleton of a young child? I mean, I know it’s Marilyn Manson, but what could he possibly want with it?
@Amanda
LOL…I find it disturbing too, but I don’t think I want to know.
to see the last of the original members go is a shame but it was inevitable I guess. the state of manson has seriously gone down hill since he lost daisy and he is trying to live the very expensive hollywood life… funny thing is if he wasnt trying to claim sol rights to things he didnt create by himself he would never have been sued. I could care less what he baught or that he cant keep members… (might have something to do with the 20 member security staff he uses at all times) he needs to retire the last 2 albums have been terrible and anyone who has seen him live or on youtube can attest he cant sing his own music anymore… as for the pretending comment they all were Ive caught him lip sinking several times over in the past at the shows I have attended.
“to see the last of the original members go is a shame but it was inevitable I guess”
“he needs to retire the last 2 albums have been terrible”
Here! Here! disgraced
Better to burn out then to fade away
I excitedly threw my eyes onto his newer lyrics in turn, only to be disappointed, and even saddened.
To my own horror he only proved my suspicions all along. Despite the amazing composition of his art/image/music and how well it spoke to me on a personal level, in the end his product is marketed to sell to a particular age group. A very easy target to exploit, and widely threatening the protective nature of said market’s parental figures? Publicity cha-ching!
I felt nearly the same about Anton Lavey …
But to watch him follow the developing trend of the next generation of his target audience, I can’t help but feel as if it is time for him to lay his public career to rest.
The only thing that saves him and his art is that the mortality of the music was expressed the whole time. Manson has always been a whore. He told us that he’d betray us. Maybe after the last bombs fade away from the war of personal and public acceptance, and all our wishes are granted that our dreams are destroyed. Shall we take our hatred out on him? Are we, the sheep(fans), victims of the music industries’ perfected marketing tricks, fooled by Marilyn Manson’s sirens call?
I believe that he has expressed with the long waning sigh of his latest works that all along he wasn’t trying to convince us that we are not victims of our own self created suffering after all.
Maybe he is the victim of his own artistic expression/ambition, and now that the show is over all that is left are the traces of addiction to whorish fame that pulls the corpse of Marilyn Manson like a side show marionette. That he lives his own mockery, dancing to the fading tunes of his dead Rock.
Hell, at least he hasn’t clipped his locks within the politically correct guidelines of growing up, and has yet to dawn a strait laced button up suit jacket of royal bullshit with any sincerity. YET, anyway …
Metallica