Marilyn Manson’s Team Responds To Evan Rachel Wood’s Abuse Allegations

Although Wood did not specify who the man in question was, she had previously given a similar testimony regarding an abusive relationship before a House Judiciary Subcommittee back in February 2018, as reported by the NME.

During a September interview with Metal Hammer, Manson reportedly hung up on the interviewer after they began asking questions about Wood’s testimony.

This included questions about comments he had made during a 2009 interview with Spin magazine where he stated that he had ‘fantasies every day about smashing [Wood’s] skull in with a sledgehammer’.

In a lengthy statement published in a subsequent Metal Hammer article, Manson’s team said:

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.

You go on to talk about Manson commenting on sexual harassment, Me Too and specifically the experiences of his ex partner Rose McGowan. These are all issues that Manson has publicly addressed and are available online. Please see Channel 4 interview from 15th December 2017.

Manson has never shied away from public comment – equally he does not have to make the same comment twice.

There will be no further comment on specific songs. Your journalist had the opportunity to ask Manson about his music – one of only two interviews granted in the UK – and he chose not to. Trying to weave one section of one song from an artist with a 30 plus year career to fit a narrative is both disingenuous and troublesome.

You mention Manson’s ex fiancée Rose McGowan in your questions. Rose is one of the bravest and most outspoken figureheads of the Me Too movement. Manson remains friends with McGowan and she talks very fondly of their three a half years together. There are multiple sources worldwide. I link to a Washington Post article on McGowan’s memoir Brave.

You fail to mention Manson’s ex-wife Dita Von Teese, who remains good friends with Manson. Quoting from a Female First article published in 2018, ‘Dita admits she has been “lucky” to avoid any abusive episodes in the entertainment industry in her career’.

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: “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.”

Finally you talk about death threats. Manson knows all about those – he has had many. He has spent his career being blamed for everything from Columbine to teenage suicide. Unfortunately, we live in a time where people believe what they read on the Internet, and feel free to say what they want with no actual evidence.

The effects can be catastrophic and promoting non fact based information is wholly irresponsible. All we can try and do, as the media and individuals, is to use facts and truth and not hide behind gossip and conjecture to further our own agendas.