Actor and singer Evan Rachel Wood, who has spoken publicly for years about being a survivor of sexual and physical violence, said on Monday that she had been abused by rock musician Marilyn Manson.
“My attacker’s name is Brian Warner, also known worldwide as Marilyn Manson,” wrote Wood in an Instagram post. “He started to prepare me when I was a teenager and he abused me terribly for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated until submission. I’m tired of living in fear of retaliation, slander or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and summon the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins more lives. I am with the many victims who will no longer be silent. “
Mrs. Wood, 33, was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of a volatile teenager in the 2003 drama “Thirteen”. Most recently, she starred in “Westworld” on HBO and was the voice of Queen Iduna in “Frozen 2. “
Her relationship with Mr. Manson went public in 2007, when she was 19 and he was 38. The two were briefly engaged.
A Manson representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Last year, Manson’s representatives issued a statement to Metal Hammer, a music magazine, in response to questions about his relationship with Mrs. Wood and his testimony in Congress about being a victim of domestic violence.
“Personal testimony is just that, and we think it is inappropriate to comment on it,” Manson’s representatives told Metal Hammer. “You then talk about Manson being accused of ‘terrible things’ by unnamed ‘critics’, but you don’t offer any guidance on who these critics are and what those things are, so you can’t comment.”
Several other women also accused Mr. Manson of abusing them. In 2018, actress Charlyne Yi accused Manson of harassment in a series of tweets that have already been deleted.
Ms. Wood, who proposed a California law that extended the statute of limitations on domestic violence, testified before the State Senate in 2019 that a man whose name she did not identify had prepared it when she was 18.
“He separated me from my close friends and family one by one, showing anger in one way or another when I was in contact with them,” she said in her testimony. “He had fits of extreme jealousy, which often resulted in him destroying our home, cornering me in a room and threatening me.”
She said she was terrified of her life and that he destroyed it due to hunger and sleep deprivation and threatening to kill her. In one case, he forced her to kneel in the bedroom, tied her hands and feet, hit her and shocked sensitive parts of her body with a device called a violet wand.
When she tried to leave him, he called home without stopping, she said.
Mr. Manson told Spin magazine in 2009 that he called Ms. Wood 158 times the day after the breakup. “I have fantasies every day about breaking her skull with a sledgehammer,” he said.
His representatives said in November, in response to questions from Metal Hammer, that Manson’s spin comment was “obviously an interview by a theatrical rock star promoting a new album.”
Mr. Manson described his views on women in a 2015 interview for Dazed, a style magazine.
“Girls should always introduce themselves to you when you get home,” he said. “’Hi, honey, I’m home’, and she’s wearing lingerie, legs on the waist. ‘Come and get it, dear.’ “
Mrs. Wood told Rolling Stone magazine in 2016 that she had been abused “by an important person while we were together” and by a bar owner.