Starfuckers, Inc. provoked media speculation

Before the album’s release, the song ” Starfuckers, Inc. ” provoked media speculation about whom Reznor had intended its acerbic lyrics to satirize. Cinesexuality critic Patricia MacCormack interprets the song as a “scathing attack on the alternative music scene,” particularly Reznor’s former friend and protégé Marilyn Manson. The two artists put aside their differences when Manson appeared in the song’s music video, retitled “Starsuckers, Inc.” and performed on stage with Nine Inch Nails at Madison Square Garden in 2000.