Bradford Cox says he got in a fight with Billy Corgan over a water bottle

At a recent gig, Bradford Cox recounted a feud of his; with Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan. His band Deerhunter was opening for the Pumpkins at a run of 2007 shows in Asheville, North Carolina, and Cox apparently pissed off Corgan by accidentally nicking a bottle of water.

Upon removing a bottle of water from a nearby pyramid, a bodyguard allegedly seized Bradford Cox, saying “what the fuck are you doing? That’s Mr. Corgan’s water.” The following day, Billy Corgan summoned Cox to an empty venue, before delivering this somewhat dramatic monologue from the stage.

“I hear you’ve been causing a lot of trouble. Do you know who you are? You’re shit,” Corgan said, according to Cox. “You’re a shitty little insignificant fucking indie rock band. And you’re invited — not by me, who knows what fucking idiot in my management did this — but you are invited to open for the Smashing Pumpkins.”

Cox apparently retaliated by telling Corgan to fuck off, sticking his backstage pass onto his leg. In return, Corgan threatened to “sue the fucking shit out of you,” for assault. Smashing Pumpkins’ crew reportedly threw Deerhunter’s drum kit down a flight of stairs. Blimey, it’s more eventful that Eastenders Christmas Special.

The Smashing Pumpkins’ manager, meanwhile, is threatening to take legal action unless Cox retracts his story, calling it “intentionally slanderous,” and “a complete fabrication” in a statement shared with Pitchfork.

Bradford Cox later issued his own statement, retracting the tale “out of respect.” “I would like to say that my intention was not to defame Billy Corgan,” he said. “What I did was open my big fucking mouth and go off on one of my usual tangents. Some people call this stage banter…The story I told was just a contextual rap about something that happened at the venue we were playing - 8 years ago. I will be the first to admit that there are two sides to every story and it is unfair that I gave mine without the other party being there to counter.”

Watch Bradford Cox recount the whole saga at a show below.