Bier also says that in 2000, Manson forced the band to spend a substantial sum of money to pay a video production company to keep certain video footage out of an upcoming DVD about the band as this video footage showed Manson making racist statements and jokes about African-Americans while feeding his pet snake. And Bier is also pretty sure that Manson used band money to buy Von Teese’s $150,000 engagement ring and to pay for the couple’s 2005 wedding.
Apparently at the time of the band’s formation, when the group was still known as ‘Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids’, the founding members entered into a partnership agreement whereby all profits (and losses) from the group’s album releases, tours and merch sales were shared in various proportions, with Manson getting the biggest chunk. Manson would have systematically forced the original bandmembers out, just to replace them with new musicians who did get another agreement. Fred Streithorst, Jr. (aka Sara Lee Lucas) was pestered out the band in 1995 after Manson doused his drum kit with butane during a concert, setting it on fire while Streithorst was still playing.
Source: www.side-line.com
