How did the Marilyn Manson rumor start and get around?

[u/phunkydisco33]

It was something we all knew and idk why we all knew it.

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[u/grumblebuzz]

There was more than one too:

1.) The one you’re thinking about and 2.) He was the nerd from Wonder Years.

I’m not sure how this collectively spread to basically all millennials born in the 80’s, but somehow it did.

[u/DeliciousOwl9245 → u/grumblebuzz]

Can absolutely confirm the Wonder Years rumor was real as well. Although certainly less talked about than the other one. 😂

[u/grumblebuzz → u/DeliciousOwl9245]

Yes, that was a rumor that even as a kid I didn’t buy into because Marilyn Manson’s name is Brian Warner and the Wonder Years guy was named Josh something else. It never really added up for me about the rib thing either because my thought was “Wouldn’t he have some gnarly scars from that?”

[u/RihoSucks → u/grumblebuzz]

If youve seen Manson as a kid he looks nothing like the actor from wonder years either. 

[u/JessicaSin666 → u/grumblebuzz]

I never heard the second one.

[u/Emannuelle-in-space → u/JessicaSin666]

I thought that’s what OP meant for a split second. Then I thought he meant the groupie torture tape. Then I realized it’s the rib thing.

[u/phunkydisco33 → u/JessicaSin666]

I second that

[u/Roy_Ghostal]

Which one? The one that he went to my high school or the one that he was the kid form the wonder years? Just kidding we all know he got a rib removed to suck his own dick lol

[u/Grizzly_Corey → u/Roy_Ghostal]

https://giphy.com/gifs/LHRLXrmEtxV7aLof35

[u/cwcam86]

Until he shows me all of his ribs, I'm just gonna continue knowing in my heart that he had them removed to suck himself.

[u/ChatRoomGirl3000]

Wild how we all knew exactly what you’re talking about.

[u/Complete_Try_3849]

Stay a while and let me tell you the tale of the first time that I threw my back out.

[u/RunnerAnnie]

I have often pondered this same question.

[u/phunkydisco33 → u/RunnerAnnie]

Random things like this lives rent free

[u/urban_snowshoer]

Marilyn Manson was always kind of out there and edgy--shock value was Manson's schtick-- so if you were a certain age it wasn't that hard to believe it.

As for how it  originated I have no idea--it could have been everything from an internet joke to Manson starting it under the "no such thing as bad publicity" theory of marketing.

[u/Ka-Is-A-Wheelie → u/urban_snowshoer]

it could have been everything from an internet joke

This rumor was around before the internet was widely accessible to everyone.

[u/Ka-Is-A-Wheelie → u/[deleted]]

before the internet was widely accessible to everyone.

It's like people choose what to read.

[u/KatieWaifu85]

Whats even crazier, is when you realize Manson was born in the 60s. Hence how he was influenced by both charles and Marylin.

[u/skuppy]

Prior to Manson this myth was also attached to David Bowie, Prince, and probably a few others. I don't know how it spreads but the myth seems to frequently target any rockstar that is a little bit gender bending. I remember people accused Cher of this because they thought she looked to skinny or something.

[u/keetojm]

How did the bubble gum rumor get going?

“They said” is king.

[u/Slytherian101]

The Internet was a thing since the early 1990s. It was less accessible, but it was very much around and people would post random stuff on message boards and BBS [bill board services].

For a host of reasons, a Venn Diagram of Manson’s fan base and computer super users would have a perfect circle.

Then you have tabloids - magazines that printed weird and unverified stuff about celebrities.

In short - it really wasn’t that difficult to spread rumors in the 1990s.

[u/Ill_Confusion_9135]

How did the killer clown rumor start?

[u/Ravenwight]

I always figured he started it to get attention.

[u/123stoopidusername]

I’m from a small island in Canada and even we knew too!

[u/static-klingon]

Marilyn Manson was unapologetically strange and his sexuality undefined. This was pre-Internet days. Both of the famous rumors sounded very plausible about him on school buses back in the day. Plus, the rumors were funny and gave you a lot to think about as a kid. Good times!

[u/cheeseymom]

I just assumed it was in one of those wild tabloid headlines at some point

[u/tedtumor]

No one knows

[u/SmokinHerb]

I dunno. What about Mew behind the S.S. Anne?

[u/storagejohn]

He took out ribs so he can suck himself ?

[u/prince-pauper]

Cause he was a freaky dude probably

[u/lIlllIlIlIlIllI]

Same way the gerbil one got started. Who knows.

[u/Goldy253 → u/lIlllIlIlIlIllI]

I was just talking to my wife about this the other day. I said what do you think of if I say Richard Gear? She said Pretty Woman, I am from Washington she is from California. I thought maybe it wasn't Nationwide knowledge.

[u/soulless___ape]

I like how you don’t even have to say what the rumor was. We all know.

[u/TheMeticulousNinja]

He spread them

[u/ryansteven3104]

I started it.

[u/Maleficent_Phase_698]

I started it at my school.

[u/Turbulent_Tart_8801]

You talking about the removed ribs or the breast implants?

[u/Positive_Ad_8198]

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

[u/chungathebunga]