Marilyn Manson denies abuse allegations, says relationships were consensual

Update 1: Adds reactions from Manson, context

Los Angeles, US, Feb 1 (efe-epa).- American singer Marilyn Manson, accused of abuse Monday by actress and model Evan Rachel Wood, and four other women, called the allegations against him “horrible distortions of reality” and said all his intimate relationships were “entirely consensual”.

“Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,” the musician wrote on Instagram on Monday.

“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,” he added.

Following the allegations, Manson’s record label, Loma Vista Recordings, said that it will cease to work with the musician.

“In light of today’s disturbing allegations by Evan Rachel Wood and other women naming Marilyn Manson as their abuser, Loma Vista will cease to further promote his current album, effective immediately. Due to these concerning developments, we have also decided not to work with Marilyn Manson on any future projects,” Loma Vista said in a statement.

Manson was also dropped from Starz’s TV series “American Gods.” An upcoming episode of the series featuring Manson will not be aired until his performance is removed, the network said.

The controversy surrounding Marilyn Manson, an iconic heavy metal and rock singer of the last few decades, began on Monday morning when Evan Rachel Wood said that she was the victim of “horrible” emotional and sexual abuse for years by the musician, whom she broke up with in late 2010.

“The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,” she wrote on her Instagram account.

Wood and Manson first got together in January 2007, eventually getting engaged in January 2010, but she broke up with him seven months later.

Wood – the main actress in the television series “Westworld” – was 18 when they first met and Manson almost twice her age.

“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,” Wood wrote.

The actress had already claimed on numerous occasions that she had suffered abuse of various kinds by a romantic partner whom she had not identified until now.

“I’ve been raped. By a significant other while we were together. And on a separate occasion, by the owner of a bar,” Wood said in a Rolling Stone interview in 2016.

In her Instagram post on Monday, Wood said: “I am here to expose this dangerous man and to 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.”

Vanity Fair magazine reported that in response to the Instagram message posted by the 33-year-old actress, at least four other women have now come forward claiming that Manson also abused them, detailing some of their alleged experiences, including sexual assault, psychological abuse and various forms of coercion, violence and intimidation.

In February 2018, Evan testified before the House Judiciary Committee to express her support for the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act.

“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,” she said then.

In 2009, when they were still together, Manson told Spin magazine that he fantasized “every day about smashing [Wood’s] skull in with a sledgehammer,” a statement his representatives said was “obviously a theatrical rock star interview promoting a new record, and not a factual account.” EFE-EPA

dvp-jfu/pd/lds