Shark episode

The shark episode, also called the mudshark incident, was an alleged escapade which took place at the Edgewater Inn in Seattle, Washington, on 28 July 1969, involving Richard Cole, a road manager for the English rock band Led Zeppelin, and members of the American psychedelic rock band Vanilla Fudge. The bands were in Seattle for their appearance at the Seattle Pop Festival at Gold Creek Park on 27 July 1969, and were staying at the Edgewater Inn, overnight. This hotel, now known as the Edgewater Hotel, is located directly on Elliott Bay, and at the time allowed guests to fish directly from their room windows.

The shark episode is alleged to have involved some type of sexual act with a fish. However, there are many variations on the story, some involving one or two members of both bands, as well as variations of the type of fish (often claimed to be a shark, mudshark, dog shark, or aholehole), and the nature of the acts performed.

Rock journalist Stephen Davis, in his Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods, provided the following account of the event:

One girl, a pretty young groupie with red hair, was disrobed and tied to the bed. According to the legend of the shark episode, Led Zeppelin then proceeded to stuff pieces of shark into her vagina and rectum.

Davis notes that Led Zeppelin's road manager Richard Cole, disputed this version, and quotes this variation:

It wasn't Bonzo, it was me. It wasn't shark parts anyway: It was the nose that got put in. We caught a lot of big sharks, at least two dozen, stuck coat hangers through the gills and left 'em in the closet... But the true shark story was that it wasn't even a shark. It was a red snapper and the chick happened to be a fucking redheaded broad with a ginger pussy. And that is the truth. Bonzo was in the room, but I did it. Mark Stein [of Vanilla Fudge] filmed the whole thing. And she loved it. It was like, "You'd like a bit of fucking, eh? Let's see how your red snapper likes this red snapper!" That was it. It was the nose of the fish, and that girl must have cum 20 times. But it was nothing malicious or harmful, no way! No one was ever hurt.

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