Evan Rachel Wood – the actor, singer and activist – claimed that Marilyn Manson is the person she referred to over the years when she talked about being a domestic violence survivor. Wood and Manson’s relationship went public in 2007 when she was 19 and he was 38. They became engaged in 2010, but split up later that year.
In an Instagram post on Monday morning, and in a statement to Vanity Fair, Wood said: “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 am with the many victims who will no longer be silent. “
Wood started talking about being a survivor of rape and domestic violence in a Rolling Stone article in 2016 and focused his activism on those issues. In 2019, Wood created the Phoenix Act, a bill that extends the statute of limitations to domestic violence from three to five years. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill in October 2019, and it went into effect in January 2020. Wood testified before the California Senate at the time, saying that his attacker had hidden his drug addiction and alcohol, and “he had fits of extreme jealousy, which often resulted in him destroying our house, cornering me in a room and threatening me. ”
“I mustered up the courage to go out several times, but he called my house nonstop and threatened to kill himself, ”said Wood at the time. “On one occasion, I came back to try to calm the situation, he cornered me in our room and asked me to kneel. Then he tied me up by the hands and feet. Once I was restrained, he hit me and shocked sensitive parts of my body with a torture device called a violet wand. For him, it was a way of proving my loyalty. The pain was unbearable. It felt like I left my body and a part of me died that day. “
In the fall, Wood said Variety, “When I started to be an activist, I really asked myself, where should I start? So, the place I usually start, because I feel that I will do the best, are the places that I have direct experience. I think that’s why I did so much against domestic violence and sexual assault. “
Because of Wood’s public comments, which reduced the time for these alleged incidents, journalists and the public wondered if he was the person Wood was talking about. “Why is no one talking about Marilyn Manson’s ‘fantasy’ of killing Evan Rachel Wood? “I read a Glamor headline in March 2018 – the article pointed out that Manson once said about Wood in a 2009 interview:”I have fantasies every day about breaking your skull with a sledgehammer. “
And last fall, Manson ended an interview with British music magazine Metal Hammer when the writer mentioned Wood’s name. Manson later issued a long statement, denying any wrongdoing.