Evan Rachel Wood accused her ex-partner Marilyn Manson of years of “horrible” abuse.
In an Instagram post, the actor wrote:
My attacker’s name is Brian Warner, also known worldwide as Marilyn Manson. He started to prepare me when I was a teenager and he abused me horribly 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 have many victims who will not remain silent.
Four other women – Ashley Walters, Sarah McNeilly, Ashley Morgan and Gabriella (without the surname provided) – also alleged abusive behavior through public Instagram posts. McNeilly and Walters allege physical and emotional abuse, including behavior they characterize as torture; Morgan alleges sexual and physical violence and coercion; Gabriella alleges rape, physical violence and that Manson forced her to use drugs.
Rock singer Manson did not comment on the allegations. The Guardian contacted representatives from his management and recording company for comment.
Manson “categorically denied” a previous allegation of sexual abuse made by an anonymous woman in 2018 about incidents in 2011, which was rejected due to “no corroboration” and the statute of limitations has expired. Manson’s lawyer called the allegations “completely delusional”.
Wood and Manson started dating in 2007, when she was 19 and he was 37. She inspired her 2007 song Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand). Their relationship ended in 2008. Manson told an interviewer in 2009 : “I have fantasies every day about breaking her skull with a sledgehammer”, and said that she had been hurt after the separation. They reconciled, became engaged in 2010 and separated again in the same year.
In 2018, Wood appeared on the United States House Judiciary Committee amid a campaign for the 2016 Survivors Rights Act to be enacted in the United States and detailed his experiences of various forms of abuse by an unidentified person.
She said that after the attacks, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and self-harmed and attempted suicide. All four other women who claim abuse against Manson say they suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
In 2019, Wood testified before the California Senate Public Security Committee in support of a bill that expands the rights of victims of domestic violence. She said that an unidentified assailant, whom she met in her late teens, made “threats against my life, sometimes with deadly weapons” amid alleged domestic abuse in which he also tortured and starved her, monitored her use of phone and threatened her with blackmail.
Manson was asked about the testimonies in an interview with Metal Hammer in 2020, and shortened the interview. A press representative later said “Evan Rachel Wood dated several people around the time she was dating Manson” and said the “sledgehammer” comment “was obviously a theatrical interview by a rock star promoting a new album, and not a factual account ”. They complained about “gossip and conjecture”, and highlighted a 2015 interview with Wood in which she said of Manson: “I appreciate everything he taught me”.
Wood said earlier in 2018: “Many rumors have been circulating about who I was talking about in my testimony. I would like to clarify something and say, it was not Mickey Rourke. We’ve never been ‘together’. “
In 2018, Manson was also accused of harassing women on the set of the TV House drama, which he did not comment on. In 2001, he was charged with assault and sexual misconduct after rubbing his groin on a security guard’s face, later reduced to a charge of disorderly conduct. He paid a $ 4,000 fine and settled an out-of-court case.
Since his debut in 1994, Manson has had a long-lasting career with his Gothic cartoon style. Nine of his 11 studio albums reached the US Top 10 – most recently We Are Chaos in September 2020 – with Mechanical Animals from 1998 and The Golden Age of Grotesque from 2003 reaching number one.
Wood is a successful film and television actress who made her breakthrough with a Golden Globe nominated performance in the 2003 film Thirteen. Since then, she has starred in films such as Down in the Valley, The Wrestler and Charlie Countryman, and has had a voice in the success of Frozen. Since 2016, she has had a lead role in the science fiction series Westworld, adding TV credits in True Blood, an Emmy-nominated role in Mildred Pierce and more.