The Many, Many Gross And Truly Shocking Marilyn Manson Rumors You've Heard Over The Years

Ann Casano
Updated September 24, 2021 69.0K views 13 items

What’s the truth about Marilyn Manson, the rocker who built an entire career on shocking people? Born Brian Hugh Warner, and raised in a Christian household, he rebelled from establishment in his youth, changed his name to reflect the dichotomy of beautiful movie star Marilyn Monroe and the hideous murderer Charlies Manson, and became a rock star who courted controversy. Because of his provocative and dark persona, rumors about Marilyn Manson take on an extra layer of bizarre not typically seen in most other celebrity rumors.

First off, very few of these crazy Marilyn Manson stories happen to be true, and the ones that could be true have yet to be verified. In all honesty, Manson's song about having only one testicle might be real, but rumors of him starring in The Wonder Years are simply false. It boggles the mind people make up rumors about him considering that facts about Marilyn Manson are already so outrageous. 

  • He Hired Nic Cage To Be Him At Public Events

    This rumor took hold after several people on the Internet thought that Nic Cage and Marilyn Manson appeared to be slowly morphing into the same person. In 2008, the rumor evolved to the point where Manson hired Cage to show up at events and just pretend to be him. Although they maybe sort of, kind of look alike in their older age, this rumor is just wonderfully ridiculous, especially because Cage already has his hands full stealing the Declaration of Independence.

  • Manson Slaughters Puppies At His Shows

    Rock and roll boasts a long history of rumors involve "shocking" frontmen abusing animals. For reference, just ask Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne. Manson, with his Prince of Darkness provocations, became a prime target for such rumors. Some sicko started a rumor in the late '90s Manson got into the habit of throwing several puppies into the crowd before his rock show. He would then tell the raging audience that he wouldn't start playing until all the puppies were killed.

    Any truth to this outrageously hideous rumor? Of course not, as Manson and whoever participated in something this vile would be arrested for animal cruelty. PETA and the ASPCA would certainly not stand for it, and honestly neither would the Internet.

  • He Removed Ribs In Order To S His D

    One of the more popular Manson rumors that caught fire on the internet in the late '90s. The rumor likely began in 1994, when officers arrested Manson during a concert in Florida. The police nabbed him because they thought he was performing oral sex on another man, which would have been in violation of something called the "adult entertainment code." Go figure, the police acted too hastily as they are wont to do. Manson was merely simulating oral sex on lead singer Jessicka from the band Jack Off Jill. Jessicka wore a prosthetic penis at the time.

    "The Dope Show" vocalist sarcastically addressed this silly rumor (and a couple other popular rumors) in his 1998 autobiography, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell:

    "If I really got my ribs removed, I would have been busy sucking my own dick on The Wonder Years instead of chasing Winnie Cooper. Plus, who really has time to be killing puppies when you can be sucking your own dick? I think I'm gonna call the surgeon in the morning."

  • His Plan To Commit Suicide Onstage

    A rumor spread that the rocker was planning to take part in what would be the most shocking stunt in rock history. On Halloween night in 1996, at the Convention Center in Asbury Park, New Jersey, whispers said that Manson would commit suicide right there on stage in front of thousands. Of course everyone knows that Manson, who is obviously still very much alive, did not take his life that night.

    Manson addressed the rumor during a 1999 interview with Rolling Stone:

    "I started to think, 'Maybe I have to kill myself, maybe that's what I was supposed to do.' Then, when we were performing on Halloween, there was a bomb threat. I guess someone thought they would take care of the situation for me. It was one of those moments where chaos had control."

  • He Removed His Girlfriend's Eye

    Why would Manson remove his girlfriend's eye? According to the gossip, the rocker removed her eye so he could penetrate her via her eye socket. There are plenty of rumors like this one revolving solely around sex and mutilation, including one involving a cow tongue and oral pleasures. It does beg the question,: do the people who start these rumors believe that Manson is 100% totally incapable of having any sort of normal sex life?

  • He Was A Big TV Actor And Actress Before Becoming The Antichrist Superstar

    He Was A Big TV Actor And Actress Before Becoming The Antichrist Superstar
    Photo: ABC

    Before bringing work of Satan to mainstream radio, Marilyn Manson allegedly began his career as an actor. The initial fabrications stated Manson played Kevin Arnold's BFF Paul on the TV show The Wonder Years. It's easy to see why this rumor got started; the two actually do look alike. Of course, one small issue here: Paul was played by actor Josh Saviano and Manson's real name is Brian Warner.

    Then, there was a rumor that Manson played Kevin Owens from the sitcom Mr. Belvedere. Once again in the age of Google, this falsehood is easily debunked, with a quick search revealing the actor to be Rob Stone. Finally, just to get totally crazy, there was a rumor that Manson played Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years, a piece of gossip traceable to the the tall tale that Manson was actually born a female. However, everyone knows Kevin's dream girl Winnie was played by Danica McKellar.

  • Manson Wrote 'Cryptorchid' Because He Suffers From The Medical Condition

    Manson Wrote 'Cryptorchid' Because He Suffers From The Medical Condition
    Video: YouTube

    The medical condition Cryptorchidism, a birth defect where one or both of the testicles fail to descend, also inspired the title of the Manson track "Cryptorchid." When released as track from his album Antichrist Superstar, people began to assume Manson too suffered from this condition.

    The song's lyrics metaphorically refer to the concept album's protagonist, Marilyn Manson as his younger self, Brian Warner, and his feelings of inferiority. One of the lyrics reflect that theme: "I wish I had my balls."

    If this rumor happens to be true, Manson boasts bigger balls than most people with two of them.

  • Manson Got Breast Implants

    Manson Got Breast Implants
    Photo: Nothing Records / Wikimedia Commons / Fair use

    Talk about going method. As part of his concept album Mechanical Animals, Manson reportedly wanted to become his alter-ego Omēga from the cover artwork. Omēga, a "gender-ambiguous alien discovered on Earth," gets kidnapped by the recording industry and turned into a rock star. The rumors surrounding this project alleged that Manson received breast implants for the cover and subsequently had them removed.

    Though Manson wore prosthetic breasts for the song's music video, they were props made by George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic. According to Marilyn, Johnny Depp currently owns the prosthetic breasts and Manson owns one of Depp's blonde wigs from his movie Blow. Sounds like a fair trade.

     

  • He Cut Off One Of His Nipples

    This piece of heresy claims the shock rocker cut off one of his nipples and then sewed it onto his belly button. Why or how this rumor got started remains unknown.

  • He Kills Hospital Patients

    This insidious rumor states the "Coma White" singer visits hospitals in order to seek out coma patients. Upon finding them, Manson would then disconnect the patient from their life -saving medical equipment. Manson may look shocking, but he doesn't have a murder record. This theory also presupposes someone who looks like Manson, 6'1" with white skin and black lips, could make it into a hospital undetected.

  • He Removed A Toe So He Could Inject Heroin

    Manson gets pretty open about his excessive past drug use. However, the rumor that he cut off one of his toes just to be able to inject heroin morphs that honesty into something gross. This remains just one of many falsehoods involving Manson cutting off parts of his body for various reasons. During an interview with Rolling Stone, the rocker talked about how fans truly believe he has some kind of penchant for pain:

    "I have people come up to me and ask me if they can cut me while I cut them, or if I can put out a cigarette on their face," Manson says. "I can understand that people are trying to make a first impression, but I think that a lot of people don't understand what Marilyn Manson is about."

  • He Nearly Started A Christian Band With Billy Corgan

    Marilyn Manson is often called a worshipper of Satan. In the 1990s, the Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey, asked to see the rocker. Manson obliged, and after their meeting emerged as a Reverend of the church. He described the meeting in his autobiography. "Near the end of our visit, he said, 'I want to make you a Reverend,' and gave me a crimson card certifying me as a minister in the Church of Satan. It was like an honorary degree from a university."

    That in mind, who knows what started this rumor that he and Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins almost started a Christian rock band. While true that Manson was raised Christian, he was never especially religious, and he didn't respond to a calling from God to form a Christian Band.

  • Marilyn Manson's Grandfather Is Walt Disney

    Marilyn Manson's Grandfather Is Walt Disney
    Photo: Unknown / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

    Yes, there's a delightful bit of irony in thinking that the man who invented Mickey Mouse and hundreds of other beloved cartoon characters was grandfather to a rocker with an album named Antichrist Superstar. According to whispers, the rumor asserted Disney was Manson's grandfather on his mother's side. His mother's name was Barbara Warner Wyer, and she was definitely not the daughter of Walt Disney.