ELVIS & GINGER CHAPTER 20: THE NIGHT ELVIS SHOT THE TOILET — AND THE MOMENT GINGER FINALLY WALKED AWAY
Inside Graceland, behind the glamour, something deeply unsettling was happening.
To the outside world, Elvis Presley’s life still looked extraordinary: private jets, luxurious homes, jewelry, beautiful women, sold-out concerts, and a mansion that had become a symbol of his legendary status.
But according to Ginger Alden’s account in Elvis and Ginger, life with Elvis could also be confusing, emotionally intense, and frighteningly unpredictable.
Chapter 20 may be one of the most revealing chapters of her memoir because it brings together two very different sides of Elvis Presley: the incredibly generous man who wanted to surround Ginger with beautiful gifts—and the increasingly troubled man whose behavior could leave her shaken.
When Ginger and Elvis returned from Hawaii, she discovered that Elvis had secretly redecorated the bathroom she used at Graceland in turquoise and white, including a chair that had once belonged to Gladys Presley. To Ginger, the room became a private sanctuary, a place filled with personal touches Elvis had arranged for her.
He also gave her jewelry, a large jewelry box, an engagement ring, and eventually helped establish a bank account for her, placing $5,000 into it and giving her a credit card. Ginger described his generosity as overwhelming.
But there was another side emerging.
While they were in Hawaii, sand had entered Elvis’s eye. After returning to Memphis, an eye specialist examined him, and Ginger says this was when she learned that Elvis had glaucoma. According to her account, the doctor described a previous episode in which pressure in Elvis’s eye had become so severe that an emergency procedure was necessary.
Ginger stayed awake during the night to help care for him.
She also began noticing something more troubling: Elvis was struggling increasingly with sleep and relying heavily on medication.
When Ginger tried to express her concern, Elvis reportedly answered simply:
“You don’t understand. I need it.”
That sentence would stay with her.
Then came the moment that changed the atmosphere completely.
One morning, while Ginger and Elvis were in his bedroom, the toilet in his bathroom began making an irritating noise.
Elvis became increasingly frustrated.
According to Ginger’s account, he suddenly left the room and returned carrying a firearm. He went into the bathroom and fired at the toilet.
Ginger was stunned.
She described the experience as upsetting and completely unacceptable. Rather than finding the incident amusing, she became angry and frightened enough to leave Graceland.
As she went downstairs, she noticed water running down through the chandelier.
She drove to her family’s home with her hands shaking.
For Ginger, this wasn’t simply another bizarre story about the eccentric life of Elvis Presley. It was a warning.
She told her mother what had happened, along with other incidents that had previously disturbed her. Her mother responded with the concern any parent might have when hearing that someone they love feels unsafe.
Yet Ginger still believed Elvis would never intentionally hurt her.
That conflict—loving someone while simultaneously questioning their behavior—became one of the central emotional tensions of her story.
And then came an unexpected confrontation.
After Elvis attempted to contact Ginger through her family, she eventually returned to Graceland. She still wanted their relationship to work, but she believed Elvis owed her an apology.
When she entered his bedroom, she discovered that the damaged toilet had already been replaced.
Everything looked normal.
But emotionally, nothing was normal.
Elvis was sitting in bed reading The Prophet, a book he often turned to for guidance. Instead of immediately apologizing, he read Ginger a passage about love, warning that love could be beautiful while also carrying pain.
For Ginger, the moment appeared to be Elvis’s attempt to communicate feelings he struggled to express directly.
It was an extraordinary contrast.
The same man who could arrange a beautiful private bathroom for the woman he loved, give her jewelry and financial support, and place her childhood photograph beside his bed could also behave in ways that left her deeply unsettled.
And perhaps that is what makes Chapter 20 so compelling.
It isn’t simply a story about Elvis Presley the superstar.
It is a story about Elvis Presley the complicated man.
A man who remembered his humble beginnings, proudly showed Ginger Humes High School and Lauderdale Courts, and reflected on how small his childhood home in Tupelo had been.
A man who looked at his trophy room filled with gold records and awards and reportedly admitted that sometimes it felt as if it all belonged to somebody else.
A man who could be extraordinarily generous toward the people around him, while simultaneously struggling with serious personal problems.
And looming over everything was the engagement.
According to Ginger, Elvis had even told her mother:
“She’s going to marry me.”
But Chapter 20 leaves readers with a disturbing question:
How much could love endure when the person you loved was becoming increasingly unpredictable?
Ginger stayed.
At least for the moment.
But the tension was unmistakable.
The glamorous world surrounding Elvis Presley was beginning to crack, revealing something far more complicated underneath.
And this is precisely why Chapter 20 of Elvis and Ginger remains so fascinating—and so controversial.
Because behind the legendary photographs, the diamonds, the concerts, and the Graceland mythology was a private relationship that Ginger says was filled with extraordinary affection, enormous generosity, deep concern, and moments she simply could not accept.
The King of Rock ’n’ Roll had millions of fans who saw the legend. Ginger Alden says she saw the man behind the legend—and sometimes, that man was difficult to understand.