Marilyn Manson's former keyboardist, Madonna Wayne Gacy - these days known as Stephen Bier - has been denied access to Manson's financial records in an ongoing legal battle between the two musicians.
Bier claims that Manson told him that the band was not making much money, cutting off his salary, credit card access and refusing to pay his medical bills for work-related problems, before embarking on a two year spending spree between 2004 and 2006, buying items including a $2 million house, coat hangers used by Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun's handbag, African masks made of human skin, the full skeleton of a four-year-old Chinese girl, the full skeleton of a 17th Century male in a wheelchair, a $450,000 engagement ring for burlesque performer Dita Von Teese, drugs and drug treatment. It's also claimed Manson used money from the band's coffers to fund the production of his upcoming film, 'Phantasmagoria: The Visions Of Lewis Carroll'.
Manson, who fired Bier from the band in 2007, countersued last December, saying that Bier had breached his contract by not participating fully in recording, performing live or selling band merchandise. Manson also claims that the partnership between the original band members, of which Biers is one, was dissolved in 1996. But Biers maintains that he is entitled to a share of the group's revenues and is seeking over $20 million in damages.
As part of the ongoing dispute, Bier's lawyer asked for Manson to be forced to provide his tax records in order to provide evidence of his earnings. However, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern refused this request on Wednesday.