What Did He Expect, Honestly?
On Wikipedia you can find several entries for high-profile white-collar criminals who have misappropriated company funds, treated the corporate treasury as their personal slush fund, and otherwise stole from and lied to people to whom they had fiduciary responsibility. Recent headlines suggest that Wikipedia might also need to start a list for shock-rockers:
Shock rock singer Marilyn Manson has been accused of squandering his band's profit on a child's skeleton and masks made of human skin. His lawyer Keith Fink has now filed additional papers adding to a list of artefacts bought by the goth singer- many of which are illegal in the US. As well as the skeleton and masks, Manson is said to have bought a range of stuffed animals, including a grizzly bear and two baboons. He is also accused of using band funds to pay for a collection of Nazi memorabilia.Swastika wall tiles with matching custom rugs and Nazi government coat hangers owned by Adolf Hitler are allegedly on display in Manson's Californian mansion, according to legal papers.
While it is hard to believe anyone with a lawyer named "Fink", let alone a fondness for the macarbre AND Nazi memorabilia, I grudgingly give Manson the benefit of the doubt for being innocent until proven guilty of squandering the bands profits. His dark sense of humor is not so deserving of tolerance:
When interviewed on MTV after Bier filed the original lawsuit, Manson said: "The fact that he's claiming that I've treated him unfairly, financially, is really ridiculous." "And I would never spend my money on a Chinese girl skeleton. That would be crossing the line. It's a Chinese boy, for the record." Bier is seeking damages and lawyers fees from millionaire Manson as well as his slice of the successful band's profit.
Not that it excuses any of Manson's alledged behavior, but Bier knows what kind of man he has been working for the last several years. Manson's proclivities and perversitites are well-documented; they are the stuff of legend in certain circles. How could Bier honestly expect that such a tortured soul as Manson's could treat his bandmates and subordinates fairly and without contempt? Why would Bier not expect that his band leader was fleecing his flock at any and every opportunity? How could Bier expect that he could lie down with this "mechnical animal" and not get up with fleas, or something much worse?
