Music

Witnesses say Marilyn Manson didn't deserve to be suckerpunched in Alberta Denny's

by Mark Teo

Yesterday, news leaked out of Southern Alberta that Marilyn Manson had been attacked at a Denny’s in Lethbridge, AB. Manson, said the reports, had an argument with a townie—allegedly calling his girlfriend “a bitch”—which resulted in a melee that spilled out into a hotel. The spoopy Mechanical Animals star allegedly left with a broken nose, and the police, Denny’s, and Manson’s camp weren’t commenting on the incident.

Witnesses have now claimed that the attack was unprovoked—essentially, raising their hands, saying, “Well, Lethbridge gonna Lethbridge.” In an interview with The Sun, Manson fan Johnny Scott saw the events unfold, and said that the haymaker happened after a girl called over her boyfriend to take a photo with the Antichrist Superstar.

The events unfolded at roughly 2:30 a.m.

“Manson never got a chance to sit down,” Scott recounted. “He was being friendly with everyone, anyone who wanted a picture, he would give them a picture, anyone who wanted an autograph he would give them an autograph.

The puncher reportedly fled the scene after being chased out by Manson’s entourage. Scott, for his part, told The Sun that the notoriously bathtub-phobic, sex-addicted Never Nude stuck around. After the incident, he was angry about the melee because he was being “nice.”

The incident, however, parallels other violent legends of Lethbridge lore. Hamilton rocker B.A. Johnston, for instance, recalled a spat over a girlfriend—similar to Manson’s Denny’s story—happening at one of his shows, which nearly resulted in someone dying. “Someone almost died at one of my shows there,” said Johnston. “Some dude was fighting with his girlfriend, and I made fun of him — dude punched the glass out of the door! He almost died. I’ve never seen so much blood. It looked like the sidewalk had rusted! I was like, ‘This makes me huge in Lethbridge forever!'”

So maybe Manson was lucky to leave town with only a bloody nose. Welcome to Lethbridge, Marilyn.