Trent Reznor slates Marilyn Manson

Reznor spoke out against his former protégé Marilyn Manson, calling him “a dopey clown” in a recent interview with Mojo Magazine. Reznor said: “He is a malicious guy and will step on anybody’s face to succeed and cross any line of decency. Seeing him now, drugs and alcohol now rule his life and he’s become a dopey clown.

“During the Spiral tour we propped them up to get our audience turned on to them and at that time a lot of the people in my circle were pretty far down the road as alcoholics. Not Manson. His drive for success and self-preservation was so high, he pretended to be fucked up a lot when he wasn’t.” He added: “Things got shitty between us and I’m not blameless. The majority of it though was coming from a resentment guy who finally got out from under the master’s umbrella and was able to stab him in the back.”

Reznor concluded saying that he hopes Manson can work out his issues: “He used to be the smartest guy in the room. And as a fan of his talents, I hope he gets his shit together”.

In a recent Myspace blog, Manson references Trent Reznor‘s comments, his use of social-networking and fellow musician Twiggy Ramirez who previously worked with NIN. Manson said: “For every dollar Rent Friendsters made off of me. Attention ONLY to all rapist werewolves: I’m gonna teach you about more than loss. Question is— does this end with my fist in the front of your face or the back of your head? Everyone else, proceed as not planned.”