Marilyn Manson: Facing The Music For Abuse He Flaunted For Years
Sleep deprivation, illicit drugs, and love bombing —5 women took to Instagram to tell their stories.
Some of you are far too young to know much about Marilyn Manson, but I was born in 1982, so his popularity in the 90s and early 2000s is as memorable for me as that of Nirvana, Weezer, or Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill. While Manson’s shock-goth music and general persona wasn’t quite my thing, lots of my friends adored him. My own father even told me that when he read interviews or saw Manson on television, he believed the man behind the persona — Brian Warner — to be deeply intelligent and down-to-earth.
I’ve heard many similar comments about Marilyn Manson over the years. “Oh, he’s so smart, so kind, did you know he’s the Godfather of Johnny Depp’s daughter?” For the most part, fans say these sorts of things because we want all the good stuff to be true.
Yet, Marilyn Manson’s name is currently making headlines for all of the wrong reasons. Sure, he’s hardly new to controversy in his 30+ year career, but recently, the controversy has blown up as five (yes, five) women have come out on Instagram to accuse Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson of abuse.
Evan Rachel Wood
Ex-fiancee Evan Rachel Wood stated in an Instagram post that her abuser — the man she’s been talking about for the past three years or so when she details domestic abuse — is none other than her notorious ex.
In her post, Wood said:
“The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson. He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.”
Wood recounted her abuse to Congress without naming anyone, in support of the Phoenix Act — which she wrote. The Phoenix Act became a California law in January 2020 and extends the statute of limitations for reporting domestic violence to law enforcement from 1 to 5 years.
In her statement to Congress, she said:
“My experience with domestic violence was this: the toxic mental, physical and sexual abuse which started slow but escalated over time, including threats against my life, severe gaslighting and brainwashing, waking up to the man that claimed to love me, raping what he believed to be my unconscious body.
The worst part — sick rituals of binding me up by my hands and feet to be mentally and physically tortured until my abuser felt I had proven my love for them. In this moment, while I was tied up and being beaten, and being told unspeakable things, I truly felt like I could die, not just because my abuser said to me, ‘I could kill you right now,’ but because in that moment I felt like I left my body, and I was too afraid to run.”
Speaking about her subsequent depression and suicide attempts, Wood said she was privileged to get the professional help she needed to deal with her trauma, “but others are not so fortunate and because of this, rape is often more than a few minutes of trauma, but a slow death.”
Sarah McNeilly
Model Sarah McNeilly wrote about how the musician used to lock her in a room for being “bad.”
In her statement, Sarah wrote:
“I have been afraid to bring any spotlight upon myself as to avoid winding up in his crosshairs again. As a result of the way he treated me, I suffer from mental health issues and PTSD that have affected my personal and professional relationships, self-worth and personal goals. I believe he gets off on ruining people’s lives. I stand in support of all that have and all will come forward. I want to see Brian held accountable for his evil.”
Ashley Lindsay Morgan
Ashley Lindsay Morgan wrote in her own lengthy Instagram post that Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner) groomed her and quickly pulled her into a world of abuse.
“I have night terrors, PTSD, anxiety, and mostly crippling OCD. I try to wash constantly to get him out or off of me…. I am coming forward so he will finally stop.”
"Gabriella"
An artist called Gabriella described an all-too-familiar tale about her initiation into Manson’s abusive world.
“It has taken me five years to speak out and say that I was in an abusive relationship. I have been diagnosed with PTSD and still suffer from nightmares. I blocked out a lot of the memories, but the feelings remain and manifest in various ways. The reason I’m finally sharing this traumatic experience is for my healing and because I’m done being silent. I don’t believe it’s fair for someone to not be held accountable for their horrific actions. I’m not a victim. I’m a survivor.”
Ashley Walters
In a now-deleted Instagram story, (and so far, the only deleted post among Manson’s 5 recent accusers), photographer and former assistant to the musician Ashley Walters said he abused and isolated her during their working relationship.
“Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson reached out to me on social media in 2010, asking if we could collaborate on a photo shoot together. As a photographer and admirer of his work, I was excited for the opportunity.”
“It felt like I was his property because [he] would offer me up for sexual encounters to please potential collaborators or friends and bragged that he could do so.”
“I’d witness him inflict this psychological abuse on everyone he employed, everyone he dated. He would dictate the perimiters (sic) of our reality. Horrifying, deranged behavior and insane scenarios became normalized.”
“He was extremely interested in mind control, torture tactics [ie. different sound frequencies that would shift your mood, or make you nauseous], and spy devices to gather information for blackmailing and manipulation.”
“I continue to suffer from PTSD, and struggle with depression. I stayed in touch with quite a few people who went through their own traumas, under his control. As we all struggled, as survivors do, to get on with our lives, I’d keep hearing stories disturbingly similar to our own experiences. It became clear the abuse he’s caused; he continues to inflict on so many and I cannot stand by and let this happen to others. Brian Warner needs to be held accountable.”
This isn’t the first time that people have accused Marilyn Manson of abuse or misconduct, however. Actress Charlyne Yi accused Manson of sexual harassment in a series of 2018 tweets. Yi said that Manson “harassed just about every woman” when he was on the set of House as a fan, and called her “China man.” She later deleted her Twitter account after venting her frustrations about abusers within the entertainment industry having such large presences online.
Also in 2018, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that a police report had been filed against Manson for alleged sex crimes back in 2011. The Los Angeles District’s Attorney office declined to pursue the case, citing the statute of limitations and a lack of corroborating evidence.
There’s also an Instagram account called MansonIsAbusive that frequently posts obvious problems with the rock star. One recent post features an excerpt from Manson’s 1998 autobiography, where he nonchalantly describes abusing his mother.
Last year, YouTube creator EllieJayden released a 17-minute video chronicling the abusive nature of the relationship between Wood and Manson. In it, she asserted that Wood was most likely referring to Manson when she appeared before Congress to discuss her experiences with domestic violence and why it’s so hard for survivors to come forward.
After making this video about her findings, EllieJayden created a 40-minute YouTube video discussing Manson’s long history of obvious abuse with several other people in his life. In it, she brought up many of the troubling statements Manson has made about those relationships, along with the red flags his exes have posted to social media — all of which paint a clearer picture of the man behind the makeup.
In fact, EllieJayden even speculated that Ashley Lindsay Morgan was yet another survivor of Manson’s abuse. That’s right, four months before Ashley, Evan, and the other three women named Manson, an Irish YouTuber suspected as much. EllieJayden pointed out comments Ashley Morgan made on a post by Esmé Bianco. Esmé, who also dated Manson, and also spoke to Congress in support of The Phoenix Act, has posted plenty about abuse, including this statement she wrote about true BDSM:
“BDSM is consensual. BDSM has a code of conduct. BDSM uses safe words. BDSM is enjoyable for everyone participating. ABUSE IS NOT. I have been abused under the pretense of ‘BDSM’ multiple times and it was none of these things.”
Note: You can read her full statement to Congress here.
Ashley Lindsay Morgan replied to a post by Esmé about abuse by writing, “being captive in that liquor store dungeon was the worst. I thought if I could just be good, less sleep, less everything I’d someday be free…”
Knowing how much criticism she received for calling out such a popular celebrity, I’m guessing that the YouTube creator feels pretty damn vindicated today considering that both Rachel Evan Wood and Ashley Lindsay Morgan are among those who have come forward to name Manson themselves. And some of the other women who EllieJayden mentioned have also come out in support of the five women, including Esmé Bianco and Rose McGowan.
Although Manson’s ex-wife Dita Von Teese hasn’t accused him of abuse, she’s frequently gone on record to suggest it. According to Dita, the musician wore his wedding ring and used their marriage bed in his music video for “Heart-Shaped Glasses,” where he has sex with Evan Rachel Wood. (That’s the song inspired by “Lolita.”) Dita has also referenced his violent temper to the point of smashing windows.
The truly shocking thing about the videos EllieJayden made is just how easy it was for her to find enormous red flags about Manson’s relationship habits because so many of them have been on display in the media for years. (To be honest, in researching this story, there are numerous incidents and red flags I’ve had to cut out for time’s sake.)
Like what things? He’s been caught on video sarcastically saying at concerts, “I swear, I swear, your honor, I do not drink alcohol, I do not take narcotics. I swear I do not have sex with underage girls.” He’s also said, “When you laugh after you fuck her, it is not rape” (see the beginning of EllieJayden’s second video). In multiple interviews, he’s admitted to having “issues with women,” and claims he’s not a misogynist — he just doesn’t like what they (women) do to him.
“Anyway, you know what, the fashion eras I really identify with are the 20s and 30s. It was the era before people thought it was OK to wear t-shirts or sweatpants, looking like you don’t give a shit. If a girl starts wearing sweatpants in a relationship, it’s over. It means she doesn’t give a shit any more and you’re not gonna fuck her. Girls should always present themselves to you when you come home. ‘Hi honey, I’m home,’ and she’s wearing lingerie, legs akimbo. ‘Come and get it, honey.’”
— Marilyn Manson, 2015
In 2017, he talked about the death of his father and said, “But his sister was there and his sister tried to hold hands with him, and — my father would like this story to be told — he did not hold hands with her because he died with his hand on his dick, like a straight pimp.” In the same interview, he talked about how his dad taught him everything he knows, and how he misses him a great deal. It’s alarming when you hear the “values” his father taught him. Things like, “If you [women] wanna get a man, spread your legs. And if you wanna keep a man, shut your fucking mouth.”
Perhaps these misogynist views are the reason Manson gifted his goddaughter Lily-Rose Depp, “her first pair of high heels when she was in diapers.” (Some of you already know how I feel about Manson’s best-bud Depp and his disturbing comments about women.)
Manson has also gone on record to admit to locking girlfriends up in a “bad girl room.” He’s described sexual experiences and incidents of cheating which raise further red flags, like this story in Rolling Stone:
“I thrust my hand down her pants and violently yanked the ring on the hood of her clitoris, making her yell in pain, surprise or delight. Then I thrust my thumb inside her, bending my middle finger around her and ramming it up her asshole. ‘Why am I doing this?’ I thought to myself. I wasn’t trying to turn her or myself on. I was just trying to be dirty. The situation seemed to call for it. I could have just as easily stuck my hand in a garbage can and accomplished the same thing.”
— Marilyn Manson, The Long Hard Road
He routinely brags about getting lost in mountains of cocaine — how nice to constantly overlook your privilege as a celebrity regarding an illegal drug that has destroyed so many lives. That’s not the only illegal activity he talks about. Apparently, he’s stolen human bones from New Orleans cemeteries (plural!) to… smoke them.
The rocker talks about the “inspiration” sleep-deprivation brings, which of course, parallels the stories his accusers have relayed. Throughout their stories, and even his own words, there’s this theme of him supposedly improving others by inflicting pain.
Manson echoes such sentiments in his back story about the above painting, called, “The Enabler.” From the Marilyn Manson Encyclopedia:
“Everybody’s reaction is that it’s a self-portrait, but it’s actually of a friend of mine who used to be my assistant. His name is Jonathan (Pavesi). He was a really weak-willed kid who was probably eighteen when I met him, and I put him through him hell. He had to wash paint out of the crack of my ass and clean up my vomit. At one point, when he was working with me, he would get really mad because I would have physical altercations with him when I was coming on and off stage sometimes. I told him I would pay him 100 dollars if I ever hit him unintentionally, and then I got drunk one time and laid 500 dollars on the table and beat the shit out of him.
Now he’s more of a masculine, intelligent, great friend of mine. I took a photograph of him, and the way I lit it, with just one bulb overhead, made his face shadowed like that. He looked like a really mean person. An ex-girlfriend of mine gave him the label The Enabler, because any time you go through any kind of rehabilitative program, you’re supposed to get rid of the person who enables you with unhealthy elements, so that’s the joke behind the title. That piece is one of my favorites.”
It says a lot about our society because we so often talk about abuse without actually calling it abuse. Back in 2018, Glamour published an article called, “Why Is Nobody Talking About Marilyn Manson’s 'Fantasy' of Killing Evan Rachel Wood?” Toward the end of his tumultuous relationship with Evan Rachel Wood, SPIN interviewed Manson and asked him, “It sounds like the period after you and Evan Rachel Wood broke up was really tough. What was your lowest point?”
Manson’s response was incredibly disturbing:
I sing about it on “Into the Fire.” I say, “If you want to hit bottom, don’t bother trying to take me with you.” My lowest point was Christmas Day 2008, because I didn’t speak to my family. My walls were covered in scrawlings of the lyrics and cocaine bags nailed to the wall. And I did have an experience where I was struggling to deal with being alone and being forsaken and being betrayed by putting your trust in one person, and making the mistake of that being the wrong person. And that’s a mistake that everyone can relate to. I made the mistake of trying to, desperately, grasp on and save that and own it. And every time I called her that day — I called 158 times — I took a razorblade and I cut myself on my face or on my hands. I look back and it was a really stupid thing to do. This was intentional, this was a scarification, and this was like a tattoo. I wanted to show her the pain she put me through. It was like, “I want you to physically see what you’ve done.” It sounds made up but it’s completely true and I don’t give a shit if people believe it or not. I’ve got the scars to prove it. I didn’t want people to ask me every time I did an interview, “Oh, is this record about your relationship with your ex-girlfriend?” But that damage is part of it, and the song “I Want to Kill You Like They Do in The Movies” is about my fantasies. I have fantasies every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer.
Okay, so, SPIN apparently had zero qualms about publishing an article in which a man says he fantasizes about killing his ex-girlfriend (who is named in the interview) every single day? And they seemingly have no problem publishing his admission of abuse. Calling your ex 158 times on Christmas is abuse. Even his mention of self-harm is abusive. He wanted to show Wood what she’d “done” to him by cutting himself. That’s not self-harm that’s — narcissistic abuse.
From his own words, Marilyn Manson is hardly a champion of women’s rights. Regarding the #MeToo Movement, he’s offered plenty of criticism:
“When someone starts complaining about something that happened that seems a little bit not as serious as really sexual assault, I think it’s insulting to people that have been sexually assaulted,” he stated. “It pisses me off that when someone says, ‘Someone gave me an inappropriate gift.’ That’s not the same as being harmed.”
I just think that if you have something to say, you should say it to the police and not the press and handle it that way first and foremost … I disagree with how [Rose McGowan is] handling it. I just disagree with the entire snowball effect that’s happened with it. It could ruin a lot of people’s lives that don’t need to be ruined.”
I don’t think I’m alone in saying, wow, that’s a troubling perspective and that’s yet another red flag. I can’t help but bristle any time I hear a man worry about “lives being ruined” over the #MeToo Movement when he doesn’t seem to give a shit about the lives that have been ruined by the abusers.
It’s such a common tactic within American rape culture for people to roll their eyes and suggest we’re going “too far” in our political correctness. And to hear Manson complain that a gift might be misconstrued, well, let’s be blunt. A man who grooms, gaslights, and manipulates younger women for his pleasure might very well depend upon inappropriate gifts as part of his routine strategy.
The fact that he can’t seem to comprehend that a gift can be abusive is ridiculous, though not as ridiculous as his assertion that victims of sexual assault should only go to the police about it. That right there suggests a total lack of empathy for survivors which is troubling indeed.
But once again, let’s look at this man’s history. Let’s look at what he says in his music, says in his interviews, and says in his writing. If there is one common thread, it’s that he doesn’t take responsibility for his actions. It’s everybody else who has “deserted” him or who needed him to supposedly fix them.
Last night, Marilyn Manson responded to the allegations against him on Instagram but closed it off to all comments. He vehemently denied any wrongdoing, called all of his past relationships consensual, and essentially called the women liars.
“Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how - and why - others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.”
In response to the allegations, he was dropped by his record label and booking agent, and also axed from the TV shows “Creepshow” and “American Gods.”
Senator Susan Rubio of California posted a statement on Instagram, urging for a prompt investigation into the allegations against Marilyn Manson. Both she and Evan Rachel Wood posted about her stance last night.
I certainly agree with taking action and holding this man accountable for abuse, however, the whole thing still strikes me as odd because the only reason he’s now facing any consequences is because it’s become bad press to ignore too many #MeToo issues. Ten, twenty years ago, people simply didn’t care what Marilyn Manson said about women, and he openly admitted to abusive behavior as if it was all just normal rockstar antics.
Back when a 19-year-old Wood began dating the 36-year-old musician, society looked down upon Wood, calling her a homewrecker. When things later seemed rocky between the pair, folks said she should have known better than to get involved with an older, married man. Nobody was chastising him and his audacity to worm his way into a much younger girl’s heart.
Just look at this 2011 coverage of Manson in V Magazine. The writer completely fanboys himself over his clearly disturbed hero:
“Marilyn Manson lives on top of a liquor store in Hollywood. It used to belong to the actor Billy Zane, and Manson first visited his future home when he’d just arrived in L.A. and was trying to make it as a musician. Now it’s his perfect lair: a recording studio, a bedroom with a ‘bad girls room’ (some former shower or steam room that’s now a lockable, soundproof glass enclosure), and an enormous and black-out space that serves as a movie theater, bar, art studio, and den for congregation. This is where Manson leads me when he opens the dense metal (possibly bulletproof) door to his home. "What are you drinking?" he asks. I tell him whatever he’s having, and I start on my first of many glasses of absinth. What happens next is a bit of a blur, but a beautiful one. Manson is high on the list of people I want to meet and we get along as well as I prayed to the black dogs of hell we would. Which means a lot of drinking.”
See where they just glossed over the “bad girls room?” And remember how I mentioned that Ashley Lindsay Morgan said “being captive in that liquor store dungeon was the worst?” Um, yeah. These connections are obvious.
And horrifying.
It’s such a sad commentary on society and the entertainment industry when we don’t actually give a shit about human rights until it impacts someone’s bottom line.
If we look at Marilyn Manson’s dating history, he clearly has a type: young and pliable. Nearly all of his girlfriends wind up looking like little carbon copies of Dita Von Teese, and he seems to have a pattern of revenge and retaliation in his music. Is it any wonder that women would be afraid to name him as their abuser? Besides, as LouderSound.com noted in “The 10 questions we would like Marilyn Manson to answer,” his song “Perfume” could be interpreted as a threat against his accusers or poking fun at “victim culture.” (Article excerpt below.)
When asked about the meaning behind the song, however, Manson’s people refused to respond.
On the upside? I do believe that the tide is turning. And I think it says a lot about the cultural shift to see how powerful social media platforms have become for some survivors of domestic abuse. Some, but not all. We still have a very long way to go.
Back in September, Metal Hammer asked Manson about Evan Rachel Wood and her statements of abuse before he’d been officially connected. Up until yesterday, it was all conjecture. The rocker ultimately hung up to end the interview and his team slammed the magazine for even bringing up the topic. In response, the editors wrote:
“We researched Wood’s testimony and her links to Manson thoroughly. We wanted to know more. We wanted to know what it was like from his point of view, too; how devastating it must feel to be implicated in something like this if he had absolutely nothing to do with it. Manson had previously made violent, on the record comments about Wood; we wanted to know if he regretted that given how things have played out, or how it felt to hear her testimony. We were interested in hearing his side of the story.
We asked, but we didn’t get an answer. Marilyn Manson hung up on us as soon as we mentioned her name, and his people refused to have him answer any further questions – though they did provide us with a statement addressing 10 key questions we wanted Manson to answer, which you can read here.
So, why – to paraphrase a question posed to us by Manson’s people – did Hammer, a heavy metal magazine, feel the need to get involved with all this? Well, we have one of the largest platforms of any rock or metal brand in the world. We encourage these ongoing efforts towards accountability within the music industry, and we’re aware that providing artists with unquestioning support – particularly when there’s a legitimate reason to ask questions – undermines that, no matter how much we love their music or like them as people.”
This is the sort of response that gives me hope. Instead of backing down when Manson’s team threatened them or suggested they had no business asking the question at all, they let readers know exactly what happened and why it even matters.
And they’re right that it matters. It’s galling to look back and see how long the entertainment industry has indulged a man like Marilyn Manson, lauded him and laughed off clearly abusive remarks. None of that is okay, and it’s time we quit making excuses for abusers to thrive.
