Marilyn Manson has always been one for controversy, but in a new interview he may have taken his famously strange behaviour to new heights.

The shock-rocker was interviewed by journalist Alexis Petridis for The Guardian, who begins his article by writing, “It is while discussing the difference between his stage persona and his day-to-day life that Marilyn Manson leans over and flicks me in the testicles.”

It just gets stranger from there.

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The testicle-flicking came, oddly, in response to a question Manson was asked about whether he has ever felt trapped by the on-stage character he created for himself more than two decades ago. “That’s the difference!” he told Petridis after flicking him.

Manson then tried giving a fuller answer, saying there is a “person and a persona. But I can’t really divide the two. There’s a difference on the stage; people I don’t know I just seduce, in a lot of ways. You go offstage and people… even me and you now, talking…” He then trailed off.

That wasn’t the first weird moment of the interview, though. When Petridis went to the hotel room to talk to Manson, the singer jumped out from behind the room’s door brandishing a realistic looking fake gun.

The 48-year-old did get more serious when talking about the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The two perpetrators of the deadly attack had been falsely reported at the time to have been fans of Manson’s music.

“Give them the money and let them make their own choice: guns or records. If [the Columbine killers] had just bought my records, they would be better off,” Manson said.

“Certain people blame me for the shootings at schools – I think my numbers are low, and hopefully they go up on this record,” Manson continued, blaming the events for a downward turn in his professional life. “That’s going to be a great pull-quote for you. But, honestly, the Columbine era destroyed my entire career at the time.”

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Manson says that in the years after, he received many death threats when performing in Colorado where the massacre took place, though as Petridis points out, his career was not actually destroyed. Manson continues to sell-out arenas, and has appeared as an actor on a number of TV series, including “Sons of Anarchy”.

Readers on Twitter had a field day with the bizarre interview, of course.