Marilyn Manson in Kyiv: ‘You made Moscow sound like your bitch’

For a touring performer, there is nothing more normal than to say something flattering to the local crowd while on stage.

But Marilyn Manson just took it one level up.

The scandalous American musician wanted to compliment the crowd at his Kyiv show on Aug. 2 – and crossed the line into politics.

“Kyiv!” Manson shouted after performing the opening song. “Now I don’t want to be political but you just made Moscow sound like your bitch.”

Two days before his Kyiv show, the singer performed in Moscow on July 31.

While he was referring to how the crowd was louder than at his Moscow show, the remark was taken very seriously in both Ukraine and Russia due to the political context.

The two countries have been tied in a conflict since 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and unleashed its war in eastern Ukraine that has since claimed over 10,000 lives.

Two days earlier, at his Moscow show, Manson was generous enough to call the Moscow fans “a god damn greatest crowd ever.”

This was Manson’s second show in Kyiv. The first time he performed in the capital of Ukraine in 2012.

The American performer is now on his 15^th tour, “Heaven Upside Down.” The tour includes 52 cities in Europe and North America.