Over the years, Evan Rachel Wood has repeatedly referenced her history of being in at least one abusive relationship. She’s talked about being mentally and physically abused, and raped by an intimate partner. ERW told her story at her own pace. For a while, she did not name anyone specifically, and centered her story on herself, what she learned, how she healed. Now ERW has named the person who abused her: Brian Warner, also known as Marilyn Manson. ERW and Marilyn began dating when she was 18 or 19 years old and he was almost 20 years older than her. They got together shortly after his split with then-wife Dita Von Teese in late 2006 (Dita left him, possibly when he began seeing ERW). ERW posted a message on her Instagram:
I believe her. We knew at the time that there was a lot wrong with that relationship, and that he exerted a lot of control over her. I always believed that he wanted her to style herself like Dita too, remember that? They broke up a few times too, in what I now believe were probably her attempts to get away from him. Ugh. Disgusting.
After ERW posted her Instagram, three other women posted their own stories about Marilyn and how he abused them as well. As of now, Manson’s people are just flatly denying his victims’ stories. Think about how many years he’s been doing this sh-t to women. Think about his friends too and what they’re like.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Sadly not shocked. Poor Rachel. I hope some justice comes out of this. The fact that more people have already came forward tells you everything. Wonder if Jonny Depp will come out swinging for him.
You mean Evan. I have seen her get very angry online at people that refuse to use her first name and instead use the middle one (the feminine name).
“Wonder if Jonny Depp will come out swinging for him.”
I’d bet he will, if he’s not too stoned or busy with suing his ex-wife all over the place.
Abusers like to cape for each other in the moment of need. They never fail the rule.
This is why I am so upset that Paul Bettany plays Vision. I’m really angry over it actually.
Darla, I feel the same way about Paul B. Still mad about his bro-defense.
Birds of a feather flock together right? Is it any surprise he’s best buds with Depp?
Not shocked because she already named him months ago. Still, the refresher is nice that these people are predators and have multiple victims.
Why would anyone be surprised by this? I could have told her.
Why did she hang around so long?
@Joan Rivers I remember an interview she gave when she first took up with him. She said that with him, she was exploring her creativity in new and exciting ways, painting, and he had opened up her world.
Even back then that gave me the chills because it seemed like he was doing the sweet stage grooming stuff that in his twisted mind would create a context for her trying “new things” and “being brave.”
To your question, why did she hang around so long–I think “grooming” answers it.
@ Joan
We just went through this with Twigs.
Why did he try to manipulate, coerce and control someone he was claiming to love.
At this point it’s a fact that survivors of this kind of grooming find it difficult to leave and it often takes more than one attempt. This is all kinds of women, from different countries, groups and economic backgrounds so it’s clearly due to some kind of psychological conditioning and manipulation that happens early in the relationship, and people who prey on others this way likely look for certain vulnerabilities – or create them – to exploit.
I 100% believe her and I’m glad she got away and has the strength to name her abuser.
@greenbunny, YES! It took a lot of courage and strength not only to walk away, but to speak out.
I’m glad she feels ready to name him because, honestly? Anyone paying attention was already about 99.99999% sure it was him. He was the only one who fit the timing and the story. We all knew. And yet she still felt afraid to name him. Just think about that. Absolutely horrifying.
I thought the same thing. Also, we as women are conditioned to not “hurt” the man’s career, or cause him pain or discomfort by getting him into “trouble”. I think a lot of women struggle with that. And when you think about it- that too is horrifying.
“And yet she still felt afraid to name him. Just think about that. Absolutely horrifying.”
I so agree with this!!
Me too.
Not surprised. I always figured he was the abuser she was referring to for all these years.
I believe her and am in awe of her strength. He is awful, good friends with Johnny Depp. Given the nature of her role in Westworld, it’s just impressive that she could play that role after going through what she has.
The connection with JD instantly jumps out. Abusers stick together. They validate each other. This is well documented. Every women should read Why does he do that by Lundy Bancroft. I’ve touted it here before and I’ll tout it now.
“Every women should read Why does he do that by Lundy Bancroft.”
I also encourage anyone to read it. To the cost of coming across as overly dramatic, that book saved my life.
Agreed. That book was the catalyst I needed to leave my abusive spouse. I have given it to multiple friends to read.
Yes!!! I came here to write this. I could not understand why my ex-husband did what he did and why the courts seemed to think I had provoked him/he just had an anger management issue and therapy would help. This book explains it so well, these men are entitled and think they have a right to act this way and let their anger or whatever out. It’s not a management problem. It’s that they don’t feel they have to manage it on women who are less than they are. It is extremely brave for her to state this publicly.
Thrilled for her that she felt strong enough to get this off her chest. And this is why what FKA Twiggs is doing is important.
“And this is why what FKA Twiggs is doing is important.”
100 %. I wonder if it was Twigs outspokenness that helped Evan feel strong enough to name her abuser. (as noted above, most of us figured out who she had been referring to, but I’m glad she outed him.)
MM is so gross, and I’ve always thought so. terribly overrated as an “artist” and his shtick is SO. OLD. he’s never evolved from the angsty goth persona that he started with.
ABSOLUTELY!! To show anyone – even a rich, famous person – can get into an abusive relationship!! And the more that is understood about these, the better chance someone may see warning signs, or also to not feel any shame for becoming a victim.
I’m glad she’s finally able to name him. I hope she has a strong support system, both personal and legal. Needless to say I believe her and the other women who came forward.
I believe her. Dita has alluded to similar.
Ya know…I remember when they were together. He seemed like a creeper, but I thought, if ERW is with him, I guess he just looks like one. I am so sorry to hear about what he put her through. She seems like an incredible, strong person. And he is trash.
I hate that she went through this, especially so young, but I’m glad she got away and has made a good life for herself. Her bravery now, to speak up and name him, is incredible. Everyone who speaks out gives a little strength to other victims, especially when the abuser is someone rich, powerful, famous, etc.
This tory is the biggest duh of the day!
It’s not a duh if she finally got enough safety to name her abuser by name. It’s a duh that women are abused in our society, but it’s also a duh that we have a system where they aren’t supposed to speak about it or, god forbid, accuse the man publicly of the abuse he inflicted.
My heart goes out to ERW, what a horrible thing to go through. 100% believe her. Just a follow up question, Kaiser ends by stating “Think about his friends too and what they’re like”, who are his friends? I know next to nothing about Marilyn Manson
Johnny Depp is his BFF
Ugh gross, ofc they’re friends *facepalm*
His other best friend is Nick Cage…
Wait Nick Cage is also an abuser?? Clearly I’m way out of the loop
Nick Cage had multiple domestic abuse arrests. Abusers go with abusers. Apparently, he’s also friendly with Ryan Adams – who abused Mandy Moore…
Thanks for the info! Appreciate the answers! But UGH what awful dudes, they’re all just so gross.
We all knew he did this for years. He’s a piece of trash
I believe her and stand behind her – he has always been a monster. Rose McGowan told us what he was, he did the same to her. I wonder if Dita will come out in support or keep silent as am sure she also has her story to tell about him.
According to Rose’s book, he was nice to her after her abuse by Weinstein! That he was thoughtful and kind until after they broke up and then he trashed her publicly.
Any abuse is awful but for him to see what Rose went through and then go on to abuse other women is horrific.
He has his “intelligent thoughtful weird guy schtick” but underneath he turned rotten.
Ah I remember now. My apols, I may have gotten confused as I think she said similar things about a previous ex – maybe it was the film director who was going to put her in the Red Sonja remake? IIRC that didn’t end well.
Some people (abusers) are like that. They can see how the same actions are wrong when done by someone else to someone else. For some reason, they either cannot recognise it when they do it themselves or they refuse to identify their actions as abuse.
Rose has come out saying he did not abuse her at all; but that does not mean that he didn’t abuse Evan and the other women and that she will NOT be used as a shield against their accusations and that she supports the women completely is is proud of them and their bravery in coming forward. She said it can take years to process abuse and to speak out about it. She also called out all of his enablers in the studios etc.
It makes sense, a man like him gradually escalating to abusive behaviour and then getting worse and worse. Rose said years ago that they broke up because of his escalating drug problems. If his drug problems got worse over the years and he realised that he could also get away with abusive behaviour he may previously only have fantisised about…
So, (a potential timeline) he’s not abusive with Rose but is nasty and vindictive after they break up. Then he is with Dita and… who knows? She has alluded to the reason they broke up being pretty bad. Maybe it was only cheating; but maybe his drug issues were escalating and his behaviour was becoming more toxic, controlling and perhaps abusive. He may have been psychologically and emotionally abusive but not physically yet.
Then his next partner is Evan, who was a teenager when he started grooming her. And that’s where his behaviour massively escalated. The age difference and power imbalance meant he felt empowered to really break into that super abusive behaviour. He posted snippets of him punching her bleeding face while she was naked on his website and no one batted an eyelash. “Oh, it must be acting!” (Never mind that glamourising abuse of a partner through acting is despicable in and of itself). He talked openly about controlling and abusive behaviour in interviews and no one pulled him up on it. He made video clips depicting abuse of women made to look like Evan when they were on breaks and it was allowed to slide.
And from there he switches to women who are not famous. Women who are young and look up to him, have way less power than him and are not likely to be believed by the public (the normal reaction) and his abuse continues. To me it makes perfect sense. I feel desperately sorry for all of them, including his current wife.
It’s like how Johnny Depp’s drug addiction worsened and he abused Amber after not abusing past partners (according to them) but being violent and abusive in other ways to various people (paps, strangers, people on set, hotel rooms, etc.).
Anyway, a number of people have come out in support of this, including past (male) staff who say they witnessed him abusing both Evan and his current wife in terrible ways but were always reluctant to come forward because of the “code” and the fear of damage to their future careers. Disgusting. It has been said by a number of people that EVERYONE in his inner circle is aware of these behavioural patterns. So all of his friends and high-level business associates need to be called out for the disgusting enabling pigs that they are: Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, Norman Reedus, his band members, management, label and anyone else.
Go Evan. And any other women he abused.
That is all.
I think many of us here suspected that it was him. I’m glad that she felt ready to name him. His depravity and abuse should called out and I hope he pays for it.
Yeah, not a surprise and good for her! A member of his band has come out and confirmed the women’s stories as well. This man is trash and I hope he pays.
In one of his autobiographies he talked about how he (and others) used to treat groupies, bragging about what he could get them to do – it was awful and he clearly enjoyed it. I don’t recall the details but what he was able to print was horrible and i can only imagine what stuff wasn’t able to be printed.
He has more than one? Dude’s not that interesting but I guess I’m not surprised.
I find groupie culture pretty gross. If you need a harem, you’re probably a douche at best.
Yeah, I remember reading that autobiography in high school when I was still a fan. It made me an ex-fan overnight. It was very clear he saw no problem in “getting away” with whatever he could, and of course the more famous he got the more that was.
I think we have this idea of abusers as overtly evil, but sometimes it’s that simple: the soullessness of doing whatever you think you can get away with.
He only had one, apologies – he’s had a few books published. Am old and get confused easily 🙂
I am in no way surprised that it’s him and please for her that she is now in a position where she is ready to confirm this information. She can’t take back what he took from her but she can make choices about her own life and this will help others. We need public conversations about these monsters, it’s way more common than most people will admit and we need to talk about that.
I always try to don’t be quick to judge on music and looks but sadly it us not a surprise so… bravo to her for talking
I believe her, and I am glad she found the strenght to name him.
I also admire her for her activism.
Those few short sentences took so much strength and courage. I believe Evan, and I’m sorry that I didn’t understand what I was looking at back when they got together.
At that age, I was also groomed by a much older man and it had a lasting (negative) impact on my life. I admire her courage and I would advise all young women against an age-gap relationship.
Just by some of the videos of the two of them, I just knew it was him. He literally created a video of punching Evan in the mouth.
We knew and I am glad she finally is about to speak/write his name.
Yeah, people thought that was fake but she actually testified that he made real videos of his abuse of her when she was naked and then posted them on the internet. People have slowed them down and taken screenshots and he was absolutely genuinely punching her bleeding face multiple times and posting videos of it as the opener on his website and no one did anything about it.
I remember years ago (I think while he was with ERW), MM released an absolutely odious music video wherein he basically rapes and assaults a young woman. Somehow people let this slide as artistry (more like shartistry). The passes that we gave to men pre-Me Too is just appalling. Manson is disgusting and I hope he’s canceled.
I wonder if seeing MM & ERW made Johnny Depp want the same thing and think he could do the same thing to Amber?
I wonder that as well. I also think he used Amber as a way to gain what seemed him to be a measure of control as his own life and career spun out of control, likely due to his seemingly increased substance abuse problems and lack of understanding of his own finances.
And that’s not to make excuses for him at all. He’s a horrific abuser and it’s no one’s fault but his own that he believes his own hype, surrounds himself with yes men, and came to believe himself financially untouchable.
It would explain though while other partners have said he didn’t physically abuse them. But it’s not like Johnny didn’t have a previous history of out of control and/or physically aggressive behavior.
That relationship always creeped me out. Just to reaffirm that Marilyn Manson is a mess, I saw him live a couple years ago at a festival (didn’t go to see him) and he could barely make it through the set. The stage went dark and there was a full 1-5 minute break between every single song, to the point that people just started leaving. He was forgetting lyrics. It was probably the worst show I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’m including my cousin’s sh-tty hard core band in that list. I’m still honestly embarrassed for him just thinking about it.
Was he on drugs do you think??
It sure seemed like it. If he wasn’t, I don’t know WHAT was going on.
It’s because he has to take in supplemental oxygen, which he does side of stage now, in-between the songs.
The guy is a train-wreck physically after years of abusing his body.
I should add that he’s clearly a train-wreck mentally too.
Happy to see he’s been dropped by his record label already.
Wow, really? I had no idea.
I’m proud of her for coming out and saying this, and I hope it helps women in the future.
(Also, THIS is why people start throwing red flags when teenagers start dating men substantially older than them. The power imbalance makes abuse and control like this that much easier.)
Just go watch the official music video for ‘Running to the Edge of the World’ (her initials are even in the song title) …kinda says it all. It depicts him horrifically abusing her and eventually killing her (?) I mean, it’s a model/someone who is clearly styled to look like her but still… We’ve known it was him for a long time. Glad she’s standing strong. I really like her and she’s so talented.
I watched the video, and yes, it is CLEARLY meant to be ERW. And I gotta say, the absolute balls it took to make that video while these accusations were out there, (even if she hadn’t named him yet, it was clearly a short list)- or even if she had not gone public at all yet— to have “gotten away” with that kind of abuse and then make that video? It is just infuriating.
Yup. Just another way to threaten, scare her, and then gaslight her from a distance. Abusers LOVE to make overt references to their abuse on social media that only their former victims or current targets will catch. Anything to get a reaction or punish their victims for getting away. Anything to add insult to injury. They can’t help themselves. Abusers will always tell on themselves in the end and keep an umbrella of friends and enablers around them to pretend they’re the victims later. Happens every time. But yeah, he made that music video way back when-telling on himself.
His bestie Johnny Depp comes to mind
He’s also besties with Johnny Depp. Birds of a feather.
I’m glad ERW can finally speak about her side of this because MM has been telling us for years that he abused her, while caulking it up to him being quirky, dark & deep. Watching some people people lap that up was disturbing as hell.
Yep and twitter has the receipts – he ain’t gonna worm his way out of this now that she has stood up to him named him.
My heart goes out to her and to the millions and millions of women who suffer all kinds of unseen and unrecognized abuse, whose receipts are not kept by the public eye and the Twitter record because they are not high profile, or don’t have the emotional capacity to keep receipts and have no recourse because they have less social capital, money, power, or fame, than their abuser. She is using her platform for good and thankfully, the receipts are there because they’re both famous but many, many, more women are subjected to this and worse in relationships or even casual dating and do not have receipts or a platform. Good for her 🎉 Evan, FKA Twigs, Houseofeffie, they give all survivors a voice. Let’s amplify their voices and continue to make the public aware that just because abuse isn’t visible, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening and isn’t just as devastating.
In 2007ish, I was at a taping of Jay Leno and MM was the musical guest. I remember seeing this woman come out with a bunch of security just to watch him. I didn’t realize until after it was ERW because she looked so different than she had in the past. I though it was weird then; since then I’ve been disturbed by him and wondered what was going on behind closed doors.
I always found the relationship iffy, mainly due to the age difference. It would be one thing if they got together when she was, say, 27 and he was 47, but she was a teenager, which automatically makes it gross IMO, and makes him gross. Not that I didn’t think he was anyway. I did, but that didn’t necessarily make me see him as an abuser. Now we know for sure.
I hope this statement really facilitates her healing. I’m so proud of her, and grateful.
Manson/Warner is sooooo repulsive!
Cannot fathom why Wood or Dita could
ever be attracted to him. He’s just so gross
These are beautiful successful women. And Manson is repugnant imho
Most abusive guys go after women who are way out of their league and groom them for months before getting into a relationship with them. It’s often a long cycle of devaluation, tampering down their expectations and eroding their self esteem by negging them or triangulating them with their exes and making them feel like they have to “prove” their worthiness. Nothing gives an ugly, abusive, guy an ego boost like feeling he can control or manipulate a beautiful woman, get a reaction out of her or get the attention it brings him (positive or negative). They’re really good at finding out weaknesses and childhood wounds they can then exploit and I have no doubt that he did this with Evan and Dita. I’m sure it was a long con and a drawn out game of destabilizing them and their self worth. They were both probably manipulated into being with him, at the beginning, when there’s something they want, abusers can be absolutely amazing. They will showed you with affection, affirmation, attention, gifts, compliments, validation, future planning-it’s called love bombing and it’s a hell of a drug. After this initial phase, then comes the negging, the triangulation, the slow fades, the stonewalling, the gaslighting-they disorient you and get you addicted to cycles of highs abd lows. I can only assume they were both with him because this is the nature of emotional abuse. They were both probably idealized and promised the world before he started chipping away.
This was a really well written and informative post, thanks for this.
I remember that Trent Reznor and him used to be good friends and then they had a falling out, supposedly because Manson accused Reznor of destroying his work. Manson seems to be a paranoid delusional man with control issues. I read they made amends, but I don’t see Reznor around him as much the way he was in the 90s. I won’t say it is because of Manson’s personal life because I find that no matter how nice the guy, guys stick together, but this points to a pattern of toxic behavior on the part of Manson. Anyone who doesn’t fall in line with his thoughts, opinions, and personal beliefs has to pay. I’ve believed ERW since day 1 and always thought that if he treated Rose McGowan differently it was an exception.
I dated a guy briefly in university (I was in graduate school) whom I found out later on was grooming his 18 year old students (he was 35 and a professor). There were massive allegations of rape and abuse, stories of his ex girlfriends who moved away to get away from him. Where there is smoke, there is typically fire, a massive blaze. He used to tell me that all his ex girlfriends were crazy. Come to find out, I believe he was a sociopath.
It’s so true-where there’s smoke, there’s fire. The single biggest red flag to me now is when I feel like a guy I’m dating is trying to recruit me against an ex, claims multiple of his exes are “crazy” or are cheaters etc. if I hear a guy say this anymore: I run. Far, far, away.
I remember seeing her with him in pictures and she always had a scared look on face, and nervous. I also thought she was amazingly talented and wondered why she wasn’t a bigger star. He probably didn’t want/let to outshine. I never understood his appeal, as he looks like a monster
I honestly thought she already named him, but good for her. She’s incredibly brave and I’m so sorry she suffered in this way from such a young age.
It’s no surprise he and Depp are friends, eh?
Not surprised at all. He always gives out vibes like he has some sick sexual habits. I am sorry but his “art” is the extension of that. He is gross abuser he probably abused every single woman he has been with. He needs to be exposed and go away.
MM is Lily Rose Depps Godfather. That’s interesting.
And that’s exactly why I say there’s something wrong with grown men dating teenagers. In most cases it’s about grooming and emotional abuse. Our brains are so susceptible to it when we’re that young.