Editor’s note: The following article includes details about abuse and sexual assault that may be triggering. Please proceed thoughtfully.
Over the past week, at least five women, including actress Evan Rachel Wood, have alleged that musician Marilyn Manson physically and emotionally abused them.
In the midst of the public claims, singer Phoebe Bridgers took to Twitter to share a disturbing experience she said she had when she visited Manson’s home many years ago. She began with a trigger warning: “TW: I went to Marilyn Manson’s house when I was a teenager with some friends. I was a big fan. He referred to a room in his house as the ‘r*pe room,’” the now 26-year-old wrote. “I thought it was just his horrible frat boy sense of humour. I stopped being a fan. I stand with everyone who came forward.”
The label knew, management knew, the band knew. Distancing themselves now, pretending to be shocked and horrified is fucking pathetic.
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) February 4, 2021
One woman, Ashley Lindsay Morgan, said that because of the abuse she says she suffered during her relationship with Manson, she still experiences night terrors, PTSD, anxiety, “and mostly crippling OCD.” Sarah McNeilly alleged that she was “was locked in rooms” when she was “bad”, and was “sometimes forced to listen to him entertaining other women.”
Musician Chloe Black alleged that Manson deprived her of sleep and at one point “thought he was actually going to kill” her. Wood claimed that when she was dating Mason when she was 19 and he was 38, he “groomed” her and “brainwashed and manipulated [her] into submission.” In a testimony to California legislators in support of the Phoenix Act in 2019, she described attempting to leave Manson and in response he “shocked sensitive parts of [her] body with a torture device called a violet wand” in order for her to “prove [her] loyalty.”
Since the allegations surfaced, Manson’s ex-wife Dita Von Teese released a statement saying that while she doesn’t condone “abuse of any kind,” that “the details made public do not match” her experience during their seven years together. Another ex, actress Rose McGowan, posted a video on Twitter explaining that while her relationship with Manson was “not like that” of those women who accused him of abuse, she fully supports them and is “proud” of them for coming forward. Manson himself has dismissed the claims, calling them “horrible distortions of reality.”
However, the fallout from the allegations has already begun. Manson’s label, Loma Vista Recordings, announced on February 1 that it had dropped the singer, and the next day, his booking agency, CAA, did the same.
“The label knew, management knew, the band knew,” Bridgers wrote in a follow-up tweet. “Distancing themselves now, pretending to be shocked and horrified is fucking pathetic.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please visit Rape Crisis.
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