Evan Rachel Wood alleges ex-fiancé Marilyn Manson ‘horrifically abused me for years’
‘Marilyn Manson horrifically abused me for years’: Westworld actress Evan Rachel Wood, 33, claims rocker ex-fiancé, 52, ‘groomed and brainwashed her as a teenager’ as four more women make allegations about him
- Evan, 33, and singer Manson, real name Brian Warner, 52, met when she was aged 18 and he was 18 years her senior
- They got engaged in January 2010 after a three year romance, but called off their engagement in August 2010
- In 2009, Manson said: ‘I have fantasies every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer’ but his rep said it was ‘not a factual account’
- Manson claimed he ‘cut himself 158 times to show the pain she put him through’
- Manson’s reps have ‘categorically denied’ similar accusations in the past’ but four other women have since come forward to make their own allegations
- Wood previously said of her time with Manson: ‘I wouldn’t trade any of [it] I appreciate everything he taught me. I don’t think we were right for each other’
- Evan later went on to marry actor Jamie Bell, 34, and they have a son, seven, together. They separated in 2014 following a two-year marriage
- Manson married Lindsay Elizabeth Warner in February 2020. He was married to burlesque performer Dita Von Teese from 2005-2007
Actress Evan Rachel Wood and four other women have accused Marilyn Manson of ‘horrifically’ abusing them.
Westworld star Wood, now 33, was engaged to Manson for eight months in 2010.
The pair went public with their relationship in 2007. She was 20 at the time.
She has in the past spoken about being abused, and testified before Congress in 2018 about being raped as part of a campaign to change domestic violence laws. She did not name her abuser at the time.
In her statement on Monday, she wrote: ‘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.’
Around the same time, four other women posted similar statements on Instagram.
They are Ashley Walters, Sarah McNeilly, Ashley Lindsay Morgan and a woman who gave her name only as Gabriella.
In their statements, they detailed ‘harrowing experiences that they claim included sexual assault, psychological abuse, and/or various forms of coercion, violence, and intimidation’.
Manson’s reps have ‘categorically denied’ similar accusations in the past but they have not yet addressed the statements the women made on Monday. It’s unclear why they all spoke out at the same time.
‘He horrifically abused me for years’: Evan Rachel Wood, 33, has alleged ex-fiancé Marilyn Manson, 52, ‘groomed and brainwashed her as a teenager’ (pictured in June 2007, the year they went public, when she was 20 and he was 38)
Words: Evan released this statement on Instagram on Monday with fans expressing their support – Manson’s reps have ‘categorically denied’ similar accusations in the past
Evan is shown in Westworld with co-star James Marsden
The four other women who made allegations about Manson on Monday…
ASHLEY WALTERS (not pictured)
‘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.’
SARAH MCNEILLY
‘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
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
‘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.’
In 2018, Wood described being abused in front of a House Judiciary Committee as part of a campaign to pass a bill of rights protecting abuse victims.
She did not name her abuser at the time but said: ‘My experience with domestic violence was this: Toxic mental, physical and sexual abuse which started slow but escalated over time, including threats against my life, severe gas-lighting and brainwashing, waking up to the man that claimed to love me raping what he believed to be my unconscious body.’
In 2009, Manson told Spin: ‘The song, I Want to Kill You Like They Do in The Movies s about my fantasies.’
And responding to a question about his relationship with ex, Evan, Manson said: ‘I have fantasies every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer.’
He gave a shocking account of their relationship in Christmas 2008, saying: ‘Every time I called her that day—I called 158 times—I took a razor blade and I cut myself on my face or on my hands.
‘I wanted to show her the pain she put me through. It was like, ”I want you to physically see what you’ve done”.’
A rep for Manson previously released a statement to Metal Hammer saying: ‘It is my understanding that Evan Rachel Wood dated multiple people around the time she was dating Manson.
In 2007, Evan starred in Manson’s music video for his single, Heart-Shaped Glasses (When The Heart Guides The Hand). She was 20 at the time
Evan Rachel Wood and Marilyn Manson at the Gala Screening of Sony Pictures “Across The Universe” during the 2007. She was 20, he was 39 and had just divorced Dita Von Teese
In 2018, Wood testified before Congress about being raped and abused as part of a campaign for tougher domestic violence and abuse laws. She did not name her abuser at the time
‘Basic internet research will give you a host of other names that have not come up in any of our discussions.
‘Your next couple of points deal with comments Manson made in Spin magazine in 2009. Your confusion around the timeline of this is extremely worrying.
‘The comments in Spin where Manson had a fantasy of using a sledgehammer on Evan and he cut himself 158 times was obviously a theatrical rock star interview promoting a new record, and not a factual account.
‘The fact that Evan and Manson got engaged six months after this interview would indicate that no one took this story literally.’
They continued: ‘There are also numerous articles over multiple years where Evan Rachel Wood speaks very positively about her relationship with Manson.
‘In NetAPorters.com’s The Edit, she said: ”I wouldn’t trade any of [our relationship], Wood told the mag.” I appreciate everything he taught me. I just don’t think we were right for each other.’
Patricia Arquette previously tweeted: ‘Marilyn Manson cutting himself 158 x’s when he called Evan Rachel Wood after breakup it’s not [love], it’s abuse.’
In 2018, Evan testified in front of Congress and detailed a harrowing account of sexual and physical abuse with a partner who she did not name.
She gave the testimony to push for all 50 states to adopt the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act.
New love: The outrageous performer, real name Brian Warner is now married to Lindsay Usich – they tied the knot in February last year (pictured together that month)
Evan said: ‘I was not fine, and I am not fine.’
She detailed ‘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 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. He would find me.’
She also said: ‘My experience with domestic violence was this: 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.’
Manson has previously said Evan told him aged 19, that she would ‘die for him.’ He said: ‘It might sound strange,” he says, “but this made me want to live.’
In 2007, Evan starred in Manson’s music video for his single, Heart-Shaped Glasses (When The Heart Guides The Hand).
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that in May of 2018, a police report was filed against Manson citing unspecified sex crimes that allegedly took place in 2011.
In August of 2018, the Los Angeles District’s Attorney office announced that it was declining to pursue that case because of a lack of corroborating evidence.
Manson’s attorney, Howard E. King, told The Hollywood Reporter that the ‘allegations made to the police were and are categorically denied by Mr. Warner and are either completely delusional or part of a calculated attempt to generate publicity…. . … Any claim of sexual impropriety or imprisonment at that, or any other, time is false.’
Former love: Manson was married to burlesque performer Dita Von Teese from 2005-2007, (pictured together in May 2006)
Charmed: In 1999, he got engaged to actress Rose McGowan, 47, but she called off the engagement in 2001, blaming ‘lifestyle differences’, (pictured together in 1998)
MailOnline has contacted reps for both Evan Rachel Wood and Brian Warner for further comment.
Evan later went on to marry actor Jamie Bell, 34, and they have a son, seven, together. They separated in 2014 following a two-year marriage.
Manson married Lindsay Elizabeth Warner in February 2020. He was married to burlesque performer Dita Von Teese from 2005-2007 and they dated for six years prior.
According to PEOPLE, Von Teese desperately wanted him to change his sleeping hours, but he told her: ‘I’m my most creative between 3 and 5 a.m’
He also claimed that Dita’s busy schedule kept her away from him, which drove him mad and, he caused him to believe that all the faults were his, as she was insisting.
He said: ‘But then I realized that what’s wrong about me is right. To play devil’s advocate – but that doesn’t really work, since I’m the devil – people would say that drugs and alcohol wrecked my marriage.
‘But buyer beware. She said she had tolerated the lifestyle because she hoped I would change and threatened to leave if I didn’t. I was sleeping on the couch in my own home. I was no longer supposed to be a rock star. I was someone who had to be apologized for. I wasn’t prepared to be alone. I came out of this naked, a featherless bird.’
Dita told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘Everything went downhill after we got married. I started working a lot to escape my home life.’
In 1999, he got engaged to Charmed actress Rose McGowan, 47, but she called off the engagement in 2001, blaming ‘lifestyle differences.’
The Irish Times notes that in her book, she has mostly good things to say about his kindness towards her, and their normal-sounding life together.
She writes: ‘Manson was painting watercolours of my Boston terriers, while I was ordering glassware from Martha Stewart’s online store.’
In 2015, she addressed the split with Andy Cohen.
When the host asked what went wrong, she said: ‘Scarface. Think about it Andy… What was Scarface about?’
Cohen replied: ‘Coke? “He did too much blow and you were not down for it.’
Rose replied: ‘It was me, it was me. Actually, I don’t know. I plead the Fourth [instead of Fifth]… I’m honest, always, I can’t help it.’
In a statement, the actress famously said: ‘There is great love, but our lifestyle difference is, unfortunately, even greater.’
