Marilyn Manson has been sentenced to 20 hours of community service after pleading “no contest” to videographer Susan Fountain’s claim that he spat on and blew his nose on her when she was working at one of his concerts in 2019.
Susan’s company, Metronome Media, were contacted to work Marilyn’s gig in New Hampshire on Aug. 19, 2019, and she said that she was in the venue’s stage pit area when the star approached her.
According to a police investigator that reviewed footage of Marilyn’s concert, Marilyn put his face close to Susan’s camera and spit “a big lougee” at her, which covered both her hands with his saliva.
Marilyn, real name Brian Warner, is then said to have returned for a second time, covered one nostril, and blown in Susan’s direction — launching a “significant amount of mucus” onto her.
The report also says that the footage shows Marilyn “point and laugh” at Susan “as she gets down and walks away.” Susan said that she went to the restroom after the incident to wash her arms and hands that were covered with Marilyn’s bodily fluids.
New Hampshire police put out an arrest warrant for Marilyn in 2019, and he surrendered himself to Los Angeles police in July 2021.
The star was charged with two misdemeanor counts of simple assault and he initially pleaded not guilty, with his lawyer writing at the time that videographers at his show are often exposed to “incidental contact” with bodily fluids.
If the case had gone to trial, Marilyn could have been sentenced to time in prison and been fined $2,000.
The star changed his plea to no contest, which means that although he is not contesting the charge he is also not admitting guilt.
Marilyn was required to attend court in person on Monday, and spoke to the judge twice — once to confirm his name, and a second time to say that he understood the sentence.
In addition to the community service, which the judge has permitted Marilyn to carry out in his home state of California, Marilyn has to pay $1,400 in fines for the misdemeanor, and is also obliged to notify local police of any future New Hampshire concerts for the next two years.
In a victim statement, Susan said that she was left “humiliated” by the experience, and called Marilyn’s actions “the most disgusting thing a human being has ever done.”
Per WMUR9, the statement read: “For me, I’m a professional person and I’ve been in this industry for 30 years. I’ve worked for a lot of companies, and in all the years I’ve worked with people, I’ve never been humiliated or treated like I was by this defendant.”
“For him to spit on me and blow his nose on me was the most disgusting thing a human being has ever done,” it goes on. “I understand this was not a big criminal charge to begin with, but I was hoping that the defendant would receive a sentence that would make him think twice before doing something like this again.”
This is far from Marilyn’s only legal woe in recent years, with the star also being sued by various women for allegations of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Most of these cases have either been settled or dismissed.