Courtney Love vs. Buddyhead

March 14, 2001 1:42 AM

Courtney Love vs. Buddyhead This website has a gossip column in which they include the home/cell/work numbers and e-mail addresses of the likes of Fred Durst, Kevin Smith, and the aforementioned Courtney Love. The site bad mouths and harasses bands and celebs they dislike by giving away personal their personal info, while providing interviews and reviews on the bands they approve of. What does everyone make of this kind of unabashed harassment? I for one enjoy it.
posted by JFunk2800 (23 comments total)

I notice you've specifically gone against Buddyhead's request in their information page not to call it a website. Not that I have a better suggestion as to what it should be called... seems like some weird combination of magazine, record label etc etc. I love it though... and while I'm not into harming peoples' privacy, I suppose Courtney Love can get her phone number changed.
posted by tobyslater at 1:59 AM on March 14, 2001

The best thing about it is the hate mail they've received. "High and famous"...sort of goes without saying, no?
posted by Nathan at 2:06 AM on March 14, 2001

I can't imagine a more disgusting layout...Right scrolling? BOO!
posted by rklawler at 3:58 AM on March 14, 2001

Hey JFunk2800, who are you really? Tom Green? "Unabashed harassment" isn't very funny, is it? Having known a "rock star" who was stalked and threatened, I just find this sort of thing dangerous and, well, very lame, very high school, very jealous.
posted by tranquileye at 4:45 AM on March 14, 2001

It would be funny if only it was…funny. I dunno, calling someone a crack whore might still get boffo laffs with the Slashdot crowd…but probably not. There might be 8 junior high students who still get off on the "edginess" of it all. Or it might just be lame.
posted by rodii at 5:03 AM on March 14, 2001

JFunk2800: If you think this kind of harassment is so great, then why don't you include your e-mail address (or even your full name) in your profile? Just vaguely curious.
posted by harmful at 6:18 AM on March 14, 2001

A message board dedicated to negative opinions about celebrities is fine with me. But releasing their personal information is inexcusable. Celebrities, like everyone else, have a right to their privacy.
posted by goto11 at 6:26 AM on March 14, 2001

They put some kid's parent's phone number on this website (website website website! nyah) and encourage people to "call him up at 4 A.M. and ask him on what planet do people actually pay $25.00 to listen to New Found Glory."

I'm totally opposed to harassing the parents of bootleggers.
posted by jennyb at 6:52 AM on March 14, 2001

Au contraire, it sounds like quite a good way to deal with the music piracy problem if you ask me....
posted by tobyslater at 7:16 AM on March 14, 2001

dong!
posted by ding at 7:18 AM on March 14, 2001

Buddyhead are also well known for harvesting email addresses and sticking them on their mailing list. Unlike most spammers, BH don't even make a pretense that they will remove anyone, and make snide comments about never being removed in their emails. Last time I saw a discussion about them, about 10 people were like "hey they did that to me too".
posted by beefula at 7:44 AM on March 14, 2001

So they're all around idiots, presenting their harassment and invasions of privacy as entertainment for the small-minded jackasses who enjoy watching people get hurt. Pathetic.
posted by Dreama at 7:59 AM on March 14, 2001

Oh, Christ. It's like the Jerky Boys got a crash course in "the Internet" and went hog wild. Horrendous. Lame. Stupid. And probably wildly popular with the aspiring-frat-boy crowd.
posted by Skot at 8:40 AM on March 14, 2001

John Lennon. Rebecca "My Sister Sam" Schaefer. George Harrison. Selena.
posted by dhartung at 8:58 AM on March 14, 2001

Don't forget David Letterman, Michael J. Fox, and Russell Crowe.
posted by Dreama at 10:35 AM on March 14, 2001

To Tranquil Eye: I consider stalking and making a phone number public to be two different things. Of course pranking Courtney Love is childish, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a kick out of it. Obviously this stunt falls under the "funny because its not me" file, but so what? I happen to dislike Courtney Love and the thought of her getting pissed off by this made me laugh.

To Harmful: Obviously if I was the victim of this kind of petty harassment it would suck, but thats not why my email address wasn't posted. I just never checked off the box I guess. Either way, I posted it, so feel free to email me all you want.

Finally to address many of the other comments: I realize this kind of prank was childish and petty, but I don't think its that harmful. To equate this with stalking and assassination is a bit far-fetched. The reason I thought this thing was funny and "was all for it," was because from what I've read, Buddyehad has given out the ph. numbers of celebrities that I can't stand (including Fred Durst and Love.) The thought of people pissing off these celebs that I consider to be assholes and ruining their day made me smile. Call it jealousy if you want, but I disagree...I'm glad I'm not the one who penned "Break Stuff."
posted by JFunk2800 at 9:43 PM on March 14, 2001

Selena wasn't murdered by a stalker. She was murdered by the former (emphasis on former) president of her official fan club.
posted by rcade at 11:35 PM on March 14, 2001

I wanted to respond earlier, but I was running late for work...
The knee-jerk reactions shouldn't have come to me as a surprise, but how some of you made the leap from phone number posting to stalking is quite a feat. In over half the "cases" mentioned, all it took to inspire the stalker in question was to see their prey on television. As for the two Beatles, they were hunted down by religious maniacs, one of which had a penchant for reading J.D. Salinger.
In essence, they, the stalkers, don't need the phone numbers of their victims posted on a silly web site, or even a coherent motive, in order to carry out their dirty deeds, they simply found a way to make it happen on their own (which goes to show that with a little tenacity, in America you can accomplish anything!)
Did JFunk set out to alarm and offend this community? Did he make it a point to glorify the stalking and brutal killing of entertainers? No, he thought we might get a kick out of it. However, he is guilty of assuming that we have a sense of humor.
Maybe you think you're making a difference in some of these threads, but this is just a web site, not a charity organization, not a relief center.
posted by Nathan at 1:45 AM on March 15, 2001

Incidentally, you can save the catty remarks for the freshmen at your favorite coffee house/knitting circle because I won't be coming back. The arrogance here is overwhelming.
posted by Nathan at 2:18 AM on March 15, 2001

No, no. Arrogance is when you think you're the shit but you're not. When you think you're the shit, and you actually are, it'll called confidence. And MetaFilter is one of the most confident communities on the Web. ;)
posted by kindall at 3:10 AM on March 15, 2001

one of which had a penchant for reading J.D. Salinger.

jesus, was salinger the marilyn manson of his day and no one told me? now i feel ever-so-goth. seymour glass told me to kill!
posted by pikachulolita at 3:29 AM on March 15, 2001

Whenever somebody leaves MetaFilter (or any other community, online or off) because they Don't Like The Way It's Being Run, the level of arrogance drops.
posted by harmful at 6:31 AM on March 15, 2001

Sorry you had to post and run, Nathan. But those catty remarks can be pretty scary, I know. Being provocative and sticking around for the result actually would take some stones. Have a nice life. (PS: we know you're still reading.)

JFunk, I don't think the annoyance here is directed at you, but at the Butt(y)heads. It may be cool to prank Fred Durst (I hate him too) and Courtney, but what happens when it's someone you like? Even assholes should be allowed some privacy. I mean, Durst comes as close to deserving it as anyone I can think of…but not close enough.

Basically, this is juvenile shock radio stuff on the web. If you still like those "40 minutes of NONSTOP ROCK" with two oh-so-edgy 'pranksters' in the morning trying to gross out the weather girl-type radio stations, you'll like this page. Whee.
posted by rodii at 7:17 AM on March 15, 2001