FRED DURST of Limp Bizkit has hit back at Marilyn Manson‘s internet attack on his band and fans as “illiterate apes that beat your ass in high school for being a ‘fag’ now sell you tuneless testosterone anthems of misogyny and pretend to be outsiders…”
Manson posted the rant on his site earlier this year.
“I understand that Marilyn Manson is very unhappy that his career has gone in a shambles and he’s alienated his fans,” Fred told NME, “so if he has to say things like that because he’s very mad at himself, I would forgive him. And Trent Reznor‘s in the fucking same boat. Trent Reznor is obviously unhappy with how he’s alienated the world, how long he took to make a record, and how he thought he was immortal. We’re just here doing what we do and we have nothing to say about anybody. I wish them both luck and I feel sorry that they’re so jealous and mad at themselves that they have to talk shit.”
What about Manson‘s suggestion that you are a bully posing as a victim?
“That’s how stupid he must be if he thinks that. But hey, I definitely wasn’t one of the bullies at school. I was a victim. And I’m not a bully at all right now, what can I say? I’m friends with the people in his band so I don’t know why he’s talking shit.”
An e mail purporting to come from Courtney Love has also been circulating on news groups and fan sites attacking the new sexist attitude in rock that Limp Bizkit seem to represent. Many of Fred‘s lyrics express extremely negative attitudes towards women, especially an unfaithful ex-girlfriend who he describes as “this sweet, innocent girl I was in love with who turned out to be this swinging-ass bisexual, fucking my dirtiest friends.”
The most notorious of these is the vitriolic ‘Stuck’ from Bizkit‘s first album. Does Fred now think he went too far?
“Well I use the words ‘bitch’ and ‘whore’ in the song, directed towards one person who was both of those things, if you ask me. To the naked eye, people that didn’t want to take the time and listen to the words, might think otherwise. But I definitely respect women. I have a better attitude than almost anyone I know towards women.”
Fred‘s mother, a Lutheran church administrator, would agree.
“Well I’m a mother so I don’t care for the cursing, but Fred expresses himself. He’s 29 years old, you know? Fred does what he does creatively and I approve of everything Fred does. You know what it is? Fred loves being him and I love being Fred‘s Mom!” she said when we caught up with her backstage at a Limp Bizkit gig in Orlando, Florida recently.
Has Fred‘s religious faith been important to his success?
“I’ve raised Fred with very strong faith in our family, and Fred is very very serious about his faith. He prays every day and he thanks God for what He’s given him. That’s the way I raised him and that’s what makes me the most proud. I don’t think God gives you things because you pray, I think God takes care of you because you pray…” You can read the full interview with Fred Durst in NME, out across the UK from tomorrow.