Photo: WireImage
Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. At the beginning of March, he blamed a disastrous performance on getting roofied by his ex-bassist. Just a couple weeks later, he was arrested on felony domestic violence and drug charges.https://www.iheart.com/content/2025-04-21-puddle-of-mudd-unveil-new-album-amid-wes-scantlins-legal-behavior-issues/
Scantlin addressed his legal troubles in a new interview, making it sound like his misdeeds have been getting exaggerated. “[My] main goal [is] just [to] stay out of trouble,” he said. “And I really seriously don’t really do that much wrong things. I really just don’t. But I’m like a big fish in the little pond. I call myself a Christmas dinner trophy for the popo. I wonder how many times they’ve explained that they arrested me at their Christmas dinner, at Christmas day. I’m telling you, man. I’m just a big, huge trophy.”
“I’ve made some mistakes, but at certain points I could breathe in the wrong direction and get cuffed and slammed in a dungeon," he continued. "Shoot, man. It’s weird. My whole thing, my whole motto is turn around and run for your life as fast as you possibly can, man. I’m talking about maybe like a girlfriend or something [not the police]. If they hit the ‘psycho wall,’ as I call it — turn around and run… Somebody’s gotta go down, and they usually pick me, ’cause I’m the trophy. But my motto is turn around and run as fast as you can and just run.”
Despite it all, Puddle of Mudd recently released a new album titled Kiss the Machine and are currently on tour. See a full list of dates on their official website.