Rocker Marilyn Manson Spat and Blew His Nose on Photographer, Now She’s Suing Him
A photographer who alleged that Marilyn Manson assaulted her at a 2019 concert in New Hampshire had her civil lawsuit against the musician reinstated on Thursday. This legal action had been previously dismissed by a Los Angeles judge in February due to the absence of Susan Fountain's attorney, Jennifer A. Clingo, on the trial date. Clingo attributed her absence to a severe medical issue, explaining that she inadvertently omitted the trial date from her calendar, a rare oversight for her. Judge Anne Hwang acknowledged that Clingo recognized her mistake within the six-month appeal window. The judge also noted that Clingo had reduced her caseload and prepared for her cases during her recovery.
Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, did not have legal representation in court on Thursday. Fountain initiated the lawsuit against Warner in August 2021, alleging that he physically assaulted, battered, and caused emotional distress to her. According to Fountain, she worked as a camera operator at Warner's concert at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire on August 18, 2019. She claimed that during the performance, Warner approached her on stage, bent down, leaned forward, and spat saliva on her camera lens, causing saliva to spray on her right hand.
Subsequently, Warner allegedly targeted Fountain again, this time engaging in what the lawsuit referred to as a "second bodily fluid attack." In this incident, he blocked one of his nostrils and blew bodily fluids directly onto Fountain. Fountain asserted that she felt shocked and humiliated by these actions and immediately sought to clean herself in a bathroom. She also consulted a doctor and underwent testing to ensure she had not contracted any diseases from Warner's bodily fluids. According to Fountain's lawsuit, Warner had claimed on video that he had "swine flu just before he blew his nose on people on the stage." Fountain suffered emotional distress not only from the offensive touching itself but also from the fear and anxiety of potential disease transmission. She underwent testing immediately after the incident and several months later to rule out any serious illnesses.
Warner, aged 54, had previously pleaded no contest to one count of assault for the nose-blowing incident, which was captured on video. In September, a New Hampshire judge sentenced him to 20 hours of community service and imposed a $1,400 fine for his "terrible" behavior towards Fountain. In her statement to the criminal court judge, Fountain expressed her profound dismay and humiliation, describing Warner's actions as the most disgusting treatment she had ever experienced from another human being. The police report detailing the assault, obtained by the Associated Press, described Warner spitting a "big lougee" on Fountain's hands and later blowing "a lot of mucous" out of his nose onto her arms and hands.