The Cursed Loves of Marilyn Manson

“A vampire is a character who lives at night, and preys on young women. He drinks blood. This idea of ​​consuming someone (…) is quite romantic.” These are the words of Marilyn Manson in an interview with the Guardian in 2007. Fourteen years later, it is a completely different monster that Evan Rachel Wood describes in a message posted on his Instagram account on February 1, 2021.

“The name of my attacker is Brian Warner, who the world knows better under the pseudonym of Marilyn Manson, she begins. He started manipulating me when I was a teenager, and he abused me horribly for years." In 2007, when she met the idol of metal fans, the actress was 18 years old. He has 36.

Read also » Evan Rachel Wood and 4 women accuse Marilyn Manson of “horrible” domestic violence They had a relationship for three years, before getting engaged in January 2010, then breaking up in August of the same year. “I am here to expose this dangerous man, and to challenge the many companies that let him do it, before he ruins other lives. I support the multiple victims who will no longer be silent,” reads his post.

Already, in 2018, Evan Rachel Wood revealed to the US Congress that her ex-companion (she did not mention his name at the time) had “tied her hands and feet” before “torturing her physically and psychologically until until he had the feeling that she had proven her love for him". “I woke up and saw the man who said he loved me, violating what he thought was my sleeping body,” she continued. Since then, Evan Rachel Wood has formulated in the documentary Phoenix Rising, presented at the Festival de Sundance, new rape charges. She claims that Marilyn Manson allegedly abused her during the filming of the Heart-Shaped Glasses clip in 2007. “We talked about a simulated sex scene, she explained. But when the cameras were rolling, he started to really penetrate me." Before continuing: “I had never given my consent for that.” A chilling story, like the terrible childhood of the metal singer, his controversial practices and the testimonies of his many conquests.

"I fantasize about crushing his skull"

An interview with the 50-year-old, given to Spin magazine in 2009, resurfaced in the light of the Evan Rachel Wood scandal. "I fantasize every day about crushing his skull with a club," he said at the time. An interview in which he also claims to have “cut his face and hands” “158 times”, the number of calls refused by the actress during one of their arguments. “I wanted to show her the harm she had done to me”, specifies at the time this follower of mysticism. His press officer was quick to stifle the controversy.

The spokesperson recalls what Evan Rachel Wood previously said in an interview with NetaPorters.com: "I wouldn't trade this relationship for anything," she says. I appreciate everything he (Marilyn Manson, editor's note) taught me. I just don't believe we were meant to be together." According to the communicator, Spin's interview is only a “theatrical” intervention by the singer, intended to promote his latest album. The reflection of a dark character, who regularly hits the headlines. After all, Marilyn Manson - a pseudonym inspired by actress Marilyn Monroe and serial killer Charles Manson - likes to cultivate ambiguity.

The support of Dita Von Teese

Marilyn Manson also denies the accusations made by Evan Rachel Wood on her Instagram account. "Obviously my art and my life have long been the subject of controversy, but the recent allegations about me are horrific distortions of reality," he wrote. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual, with partners in agreement. He also responded in a press release to the allegations relating to the filming of the 2007 clip. Howard King, the singer's lawyer, thus assured in a message sent to the Guardian that the words of the actress, who had also affirmed that Marilyn Manson had threatened to go after his son, were easy to foil "because there were multiple witnesses". “Not only was Evan aware of what she was doing, but she also fully engaged during the three days of filming and was involved during the weeks of pre-production and the days of post-production leading up to the final cut, wrote Howard King. Brian didn't sleep with Evan on that set and she knows that's the truth."

Read also » “This does not correspond to our seven years together”: Dita Von Teese flies to the rescue of Marilyn MansonDita Von Teese, the ex-wife of Marilyn Manson – from 2005 to 2007 – also flies to her rescue. In a press release published on February 4, 2021, the burlesque dancer maintains that she has never suffered such abuse from the rock star. “Be aware that the details that have been made public do not correspond to my personal experience of our seven years together, she underlines. If that was the case, I would not have married him in December 2005. I left twelve months later because of his infidelities and his drug use.

Legal setbacks

Since his debut, at the dawn of the 1990s, the interpreter of Killing Strangers has been perceived by his fellow citizens as a “Satan worshiper”. An "animal killer" banned from performing in several US states, says the Guardian. A provocateur, the subject of all rumors, including the craziest - he notably denied having sacrificed chicks on stage and having had his ribs removed for auto-fellatio needs. During his shows, the glam metal star (seen in Lost Highway, by David Lynch) does not hesitate to mimic sexual intercourse. His excesses earned him some legal setbacks. In 2002, he was notably sentenced to pay a fine of 4000 dollars (3500 euros) for having rubbed his genitals against a bodyguard during a concert in Detroit.

"The feeling of being his property"

Sixteen years later, the Hollywood Reporter claims that a complaint has been filed against Marylin Manson regarding alleged sex crimes, which would date back to 2011. The charges are dropped, "due to lack of sufficient evidence". On Wednesday, September 15, 2021, TMZ reveals that another complaint, filed in May by a 20-year-old young woman, was dismissed by a judge. The complainant accuses the singer of having raped her after the start of their relationship in 2011. She claims that repressed memories prevented her from denouncing the facts earlier.

Marilyn Manson's former assistant, Ashley Walters, also filed a complaint on May 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. She accuses the singer of harassment, assault and battery, but also of having sexually assaulted her, and of having invited her friends to do the same when she worked for him, in 2010. Marilyn Manson would have first contacted via social networks, before inviting him to his home and kissing him by force. The young woman would have drawn a line under the incident, believing that the artist had stopped at her request. The musician would then have offered to double his salary, if she agreed to become his assistant.

Ashley Walters would have accepted, seeing it as an “incredible opportunity to evolve in the field of entertainment”. Her employer, however, would have been violent, and would have "sexually exploited her, personally and professionally". In particular, he would have forced her to sit on the lap of an actor, and would have asked her to let her friends touch her. "It made me feel like I owned it," Ashley Walters told The Cut. A year after the advent of the Me Too movement, actress Charlyne Yi argued in a series of since-deleted tweets that Marilyn Manson had "simply harassed all the women" during a visit to the set of an episode of Dr. House.

The "Naughty Girls' Room"

The alleged victims of Marilyn Manson would also have been locked in a room nicknamed by the latter "the room of the naughty girls", as highlighted by Rolling Stone magazine, November 14, 2021. Several former partners of the singer have indeed mentioned the existence of the said room, described as an "isolation cell used to psychologically torture women". A room which the artist would have boasted about several times to his ex-girlfriends and friends, and in the columns of V Magazine, in 2011. In May 2021, Ashley Morgan Smithline, one of his alleged victims, claimed that Marilyn Manson locked him there when she "pissed him off".

"I am a survivor"

In short, Evan Rachel Wood is no longer alone. A dozen alleged ex-companions of Marilyn Manson have thus delivered testimonies similar to his. Photographer Ashley Walters claims to suffer from post-traumatic stress and depression. “I stayed in touch with a few people he had influence over,” she said. Model Sarah McNeilly says her "personal and professional" lives have been severely damaged by her supposed relationship with the artist. "I think he gets off on ruining people's lives," she said. Ashley Morgan Smithline, for her part, admits to suffering from anxiety, post-traumatic stress, night terrors and OCD. “I choose to express myself so that he finally stops”, she underlines. A fourth woman testifies under the pseudonym of Gabriella: “I blocked all these memories, but these feelings remain present and manifest themselves in various ways. The reason I share this traumatic experience is that I want to heal and I refuse to be silent anymore." And the young woman concludes: “I am a survivor.”

Singer Phoebe Bridgers recounts her own experience on Twitter, February 4, 2021. “I went to Marilyn Manson when I was a teenager, with friends, she remembered. I was a big fan. He called one of the rooms in his house a “rape room” (…) I stopped being a fan of his.” More recently, another woman came out of the silence. This is the English actress Esmé Bianco. The interpreter of Ros in Game of Thrones had a relationship with the singer between 2009 and 2011. In an article published in The Cut, February 11, 2021, she tells how Marilyn Manson left her with permanent scars on her body, including cutting his chest with a knife.

Growing complaints

"I just remember lying there, and I didn't struggle," said Esmé Bianco. I had lost all hope and sense of security.” At the time, the actress remains despite the abuse, because her work visa depends on her projects in collaboration with the musician. But the humiliations and violence would have been repeated, intensified until the “breaking point”, this day when, she affirms, the singer would have pursued her with an ax. The actress filed a complaint against the American singer on April 30, 2021, accusing him of rape, sadistic sexual abuse and repeated violence.

In video, Marilyn Manson accused of sexual violence by Evan Rachel Wood

On May 29, 2021, yet another woman filed a complaint, this time anonymously. She claims that Marilyn Manson repeatedly raped her during their relationship in 2011. She also claims that the singer forced her to watch a video showing him assaulting another young woman. He allegedly tied her to a chair and forced her to drink what appeared to be urine while threatening her with a gun. Manson allegedly explained that he filmed the video in 1996, after an appearance at the Hollywood Bowl, and that he kept the tape locked in a safe. A source close to the artist told People magazine that the tape mentioned in the lawsuit is a scripted short that was never released.

Disavowed by those around him

Marilyn Manson's support is becoming increasingly rare. His label, Loma Vista Recordings, now refuses to work with him. Even Wes Borland, his former guitarist from 2008 to 2009, disavows his former collaborator on the Twitch channel Space Zebra Live. "Everything people have said about him is true," he said. Before adding: "Those who criticize his accusers, get screwed, these women are telling the truth."

A point of view shared by Rose McGowan, engaged to the musician between 1999 to 2001. If she does not report aggression on the part of the singer, she considers the women who testify to be "brave" and declares in a tweet that she “sends them strength on their journey to recovery”.

A mythical couple

Dita Von Teese also keeps the after-effects of her separation with the fifties. "Let's say something bad enough happened for me to move after six years of relationship, and to pack my bags on Christmas Eve," she laments in the columns of Harper's Bazaar, in 2007. Before adding: "I loved him, and this divorce is the most painful thing that I have ever gone through." The two artists met in 2001, during a vintage clothing sale. They got engaged on March 22, 2004, then sealed their union in December 2005, at midnight, in a Gothic mansion in Tipperary. For years, they scoured the red carpets together, from the Cannes Film Festival to the Met Gala, and made remarkable appearances in the front row of the Louis Vuitton and John Galliano fashion shows.

Behind the scenes, however, their union is falling apart. The couple filed for divorce in December 2006. “We must not blame our relationship, rather the clichés associated with marriage (…), summed up the rock star in the columns of the Guardian. Suddenly, I felt like I had to become more responsible or adult, and apologize for who I am...I wasn't prepared for that." Before continuing: “It is because of this that we separated, and an unfortunate coincidence: Dita's career was taking off. I couldn't give up what I was doing to follow her, like she did for me in the beginning." For her part, Dita Von Teese blames the singer's "demons", as well as the latter's "troubled" mother, for their separation. This is one thing that Marilyn Manson has never hidden: his conflicting relationship with Barbara Warner, who died in 2014.

From the shadow to the light

Born on January 5, 1969 in Canton, Ohio, Brian Warner – his real name – is a “puny and lonely” child. He is raised by Barbara, a mother with heavy “mental health issues”. A “burden” according to him “hereditary”. His father Hugh, a veteran of the Vietnam War, is conspicuous by his absences. In her autobiography Memoirs of Hell (1), Marilyn Manson also describes her grandfather, who lives with them, as “the ugliest, darkest, most evil and depraved figure of her childhood”. Disgusted by the religious education received in a private school, the young man took refuge in music. In 1987, he enrolled in the Broward Community School of Journalism and formed a group with other students.

Discreet links

Ten years later, the musician's album, Antichrist Superstar, propelled him into the spotlight. Marilyn Manson took his revenge on Brian Warner, the marginal teenager. His subsequent opuses sold several million copies. Behind the scenes, the artist is much more discreet about his love life. In his autobiography, however, he confirms having maintained, between 1992 and 1997, a relationship with a certain Missi Romero, whom he met at a Beastie Boys concert. The young woman would have become pregnant with him in 1996, before having an abortion. ), or actress Esme Bianco (from 2009 to 2011) and singer Lana Del Rey (2012). He is also credited with links with Lexa Vonn, the singer of the rock group Ophelia Rising, or even the former model CariDee English. Others whisper that he had a romance with Peaches Geldof, long before she died of a heroin overdose in 2014 at the age of 25. In addition, his sulphurous relationship with Lana Del Rey will earn him, moreover, some trouble.

A secret marriage

In October, Marilyn Manson announced by surprise that he married the photographer Lindsay Usich, the origin of the cover of his album Born Villain. The newlyweds, together since 2012, probably did not expect such a honeymoon. Lindsay Usich preferred, for the moment, to remain silent.

(1) Memoirs of Hell, by Marilyn Manson, published on November 15, 2000, Ed. Denoel, 228 pages, €94

* This article, originally published on February 5, 2021, has been updated.

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