Last week, Evan Rachel Wood named her abuser. She named Marilyn Manson, the man who groomed her when she was just a teenager and apparently abused her for many years while they were intimate partners. ERW had discussed being a survivor of abuse, rape and trauma in interviews for years, but it wasn’t until now that she named Manson as the abuser. What’s followed Evan telling her story is that nearly a dozen other women have come forward to describe their awful, violent, abusive and/or terrifying ordeals with Manson as well. And because Manson was already a has-been, he’s lost what little he had in the wake of all of this. He lost his recording contract, his guest appearances on TV shows and more. Perhaps in an effort to encourage more survivors to tell their stories, Evan continues to detail the ways in which Manson abused her and terrorized her:
Evan Rachel Wood is sharing more details about the abuse she says she suffered while dating Marilyn Manson. Wood, 33, claimed on her Instagram Story Friday that in addition to emotional and sexual abuse, Manson, 52, was prejudiced against her because of her Jewish heritage. The Westworld actress shared a photo of two of Manson’s tattoos which she suggests are swastikas and a Nazi-inspired symbol of a skull-and-crossbones.
“I was called a ‘jew’ in a derogatory manner,” Wood wrote in one Instagram Story slide. “He would draw swastikas over my bedside table when he was mad at me.”
“I heard the ‘n’ word over and over,” she continued. “Everyone around him was expected to laugh and join in. If you did not or (god forbid) called him out, you were singled out and abused more.”
Wood said of that time, “I have never been more scared in my life.”
“My mother is Jewish and I was raised with the religion,” Wood continued in another slide. “Because she converted and wasn’t of Jewish descent he would say things like, ‘that’s better’ because I wasn’t ‘blood Jewish.'”
The actress added that Manson “did not have these tattoos when we started dating.”
Wood continued to say that the abuse was not part of “‘kinky’ sex.”
“Brian and I never had a ‘BDSM’ relationship,” she said in another Instagram Story slide. “We didn’t even have ‘kinky’ sex. We weren’t having sexual intercourse when I was being tortured, before or after. I thought I was going to die the entire time.”
On her Instagram Story Friday, Wood also shared screen grabs of people voicing their support for her and other survivors, as well as clips from her 2019 testimony advocating for the Phoenix Act, which lengthened the statute of limitations on domestic violence cases.
If you go to Evan’s Instagram, she’s sharing resources and information about how to report intimate partner crimes, plus she’s giving more details about the f–king terrifying ordeal she went through, including Manson holding on to what amounts to blackmail photos of Evan which he used to threaten her, saying he would release the photos and her career would be over. As for the Nazi sh-t… I mean… where to even start. What a pathetic douche. It’s no f–king secret that psycho abusers are drawn to Nazi sh-t.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.
Didn’t Dita once say that he had an extensive collection of Nazi memorabilia? But at the time it was played up that he was this intellectual/history buff.
ERW also named his wife in her police report, indicating she also threatened her, I admit I was unaware he was currently married up until now.
He bought her a purse that Eva Braun once owned.
Yikes. Hard to see how that is “historic”. Dita is in the film Olivia Wilde is filming now.
No history buff owns Nazi memorabilia if they aren’t a Nazi. It would be repulsive to them. Many of my friends (I’m German) have grandparents whose wedding pictures etc. include a Wehrmacht or SS uniform because that’s just what grandpa got married in and wore to various events during those 12 years. Most of us grew up not thinking about it, they’re so common in my parents’ generation. But I recently asked my mom to maybe put up a nice portrait of my grandfather that doesn’t include a swastika. Aside from family portraits, there is no good goddamn reason to collect or display that crap. And even those should – in my opinion – not be displayed proudly. Maybe not at all.
I think you are right, there’s been an escalation in sales of Nazi memorabilia over the last few years that tracks to the main-streaming of white supremacist groups in the US.
Really? I am German as well and I don’t know a single person who has family pictures that show any Nazi symbols.
@greenmonster: I do. Can I ask how old you are? My grandparents were born in 1910 and 1915 respectively so for people my age (mid-30s an over) it’s not uncommon at all. It’s not like anyone is trying to display swastikas or the Wehmacht cross but … yeah. Happens. Wasn’t fun for my dad who was born during the occupation in Greece.
Honestly, my esteem for Dita has dropped considerably. I wouldn’t ever consider giving myself, marrying, a man who collects these things or does these things. I find it hard to believe that he wasn’t antisemitic or overtly racist while with her.
Never been a fan of hers for any reason but I think her subsequent husband was also a white supremacist no?
She also gave a garbage victim blaming statement about all of these women coming forward now. Not a fan.
I’m a huge Dita fan so I’ll always defend her so I should say that right off the bat. Did you loose respect for Sandra Bullock when all the stuff about her ex husband came out? Because Sandra said that she didn’t know about that which is essentially what Dita’s statement said. As did Rose McGowans. Are you side eyeing her too?
Also, I don’t think her statement was victim blaming. I thought when I read it “thank god she didn’t pull a Winona/Vanessa and defend Manson like they defended Depp and basically called Amber a liar”.
Also, Dita’s only been married once
As I said, I’m a Dita fan but the whole Manson marriage always made me shake my head.
As to ERW, I always thought she didn’t seem comfortable when she and Manson we’re together based on photos. It’s awful hearing just what she went through. I’m hoping that there are some women who would still be within the statute of limitations to bring charges against him.
ERWs latest posts included info that this scum bag had Sharon Tate’s crime scene photo framed on the wall. That’s beyond sickening
Honestly, @Marianna, I did lose respect for Sandra Bullock over that Jesse James marriage.
Poor ERW, this is terrifying
Yes
The repeated trauma she faced is horrifying. I really hope she is getting support from some good therapists.
She is being hugely brave. I hope she is supported well. Sometimes campaigning can be a final piece of recovery, it is not for all but is for some. Problematically it can also start too early in your journey to wellness and instead be retraumatising.
I wish her nothing but good things.
These stories don’t make Johnny Depp shine more brightly either – MM was one of the people he hung around with as cited in his case against NGM in the UK – dogs and fleas
I don’t think I’m being melodramatic when I say this: Thank f–k she made it out alive. Not that I was ever under the impression that he was a great guy, but what she describes is somehow even worse than what I expected.
And while I completely understand why many survivors don’t want to go into detail about such a traumatic experience, I’m so glad that women like ERW and FKA Twigs are spilling EVERYTHING. From the grooming to the manipulation, then onto the verbal and emotional abuse, and the physical violence. People need to be aware of that progression. There’s no such thing as “a little abusive”. An abuser will keep pushing and pushing.
As an abuse survivor thank you to these ladies. Mine was over 30 years ago. No one in my family really understood or wants to now. My ex husband then my youngest. She is still abusive so I stay away. Another state. My mom and brother will not discuss it so f them. It was hard to get to this point and is still not easy to talk about but important to understand. She saw how her father treated me so even though we left she was grammar school it was enough😥
Anti-Semitism really needs to start being more of a discussion point in dialogue about American prejudice. The last study I read found that Jewish individuals encounter anti-Semitism at rates similar to what other ethnic and racial minorities experience in this country, which is disturbing when you think about the disparity between how often each of those topics is discussed in the mainstream. That’s a huge issue we’re overlooking.
God, he’s gross. I mean, aesthetically, definitely, but also that personality in general. There was this weird point in the 2000s where he made a vaguely half-formed sensible statement about violence in America and people were under the impression he was ~deep~, so I’m glad it’s finally getting kicked to the curb as more people reveal what trash he is.
Yes – he is gross in every which way possible.
I think a huge problem we have with anti-Semitism in the US is that some of our most bigoted people, the Christian Right, have been hiding behind their support for Israel for the past 3/4 of a century. Of course they still blame the Jews for killing Christ, they still buy into the most ludicrous anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, they still think “Jew” is synonymous with “Marxist”, and they would still disown their children if they wanted to marry a Jew…but oh no, they couldn’t possibly be anti-Semitic because they looove Israel. Never mind that that love is based on their belief in a prophecy that would mean eternal damnation for millions of Jews.
I’d add to this that the Q-Anon conspiracy is a rehashing of the old Jewish “blood libel” smear. So yep, anti-semitism is very baked into the current right wing.
It’s also hidden behind our WWII glory hounding. We came out of that war looking like the heroes (or at least claimed we were), which managed to cover up our own budding Nazi movement here and the rampant anti-Semitism that led to our denying Jewish refugees safety in the early days of the war before we got involved. Nazism existed everywhere in the Western world before it had a name, but that regime codified those prejudices and beliefs into an actionable ideology that’s going to haunt us for a long time. We just need to stop pretending it isn’t among our own.
But you’re 100% right about the Christian fundamentalist aspect of it. Their views of Israel are hilariously contradictory and backhanded.
@Veronica I don’t think most Americans realize just how appallingly we acted towards the Jews both before AND after WWII. Immediately after the war, while theaters were still showing newsreels from liberated concentration camps and every American got a horrifying look at what the Nazis had done, there were MASSIVE letter-writing campaigns in the US from [White] Citizens’ Councils, John Birchers, and other assorted white supremacists who conflated Judaism with Communism. The message was basically “mayyyybe Hitler went too far…BUT DON’T LET THEM COME OVER HERE!”
“Anti-Semitism really needs to start being more of a discussion point in dialogue about American prejudice. ”
As a white, Jewish woman I totally agree. Even in the online feminist spaces I used to hang around, anti-Semitism was largely ignored dispite of discussions of internationality, unless the discussion was about a Jewish WOC. The rationale usually amounted to “you have white privilege, what are you complaining about?” from people who should have understood that it’s just not as simple as that.
Brian is such a loser.
Brian!!!
Thank God we’re finally living in a time when people are listening, even a little, to the stories people are telling. I’m so grateful to all the women who have come forward with their stories. The details are horrific and must be awful to put on display, especially when you lose the narrative of them. This is a true active bravery that is making a difference.
@Ms. +1
I agree. I think every victim, every woman who finds the strength to speak up gives a little strength to the next one, and just that we’re seeing it happen gives me hope that things are changing.
To me, he is so hideously ugly that I have great difficulty understanding why anyone would get within arm’s reach of him.
And yet beauty outside doesn’t guarantee beauty inside.
As a general theory, yes. But how women were attracted to this particular man with his bad appearance in combination with his actual bad personality is certainly a puzzle!
Initial attraction to an attractive person with a bad personality at least makes some sense in terms of how an actual relationship could potentially get started. Usually people agree to go out with someone because initial appearances is what sparks an attraction (on a shallow level) and the only thing we have to go on at first.
Going to be honest here, if you watch interviews he gave 20 years ago, I can see the appeal. I personally used to (I was a teenager) find him fascinating. Not attractive to me personally but I can see it in general. He is (or was) articulate and often the complete opposite of what he portrayed on stage. I don’t know about charming but I bet the rock star persona, the lifestyle and yes, his ability to come across as an intellectual all helped him get tons of women. In hindsight they’re always disgusting.
I was a fan back in his hey day but I grew out of him, I still listen to some of his early stuff but he got too far up his ass for my liking. Plus after reading his autobiography I realised he was a piece of work.
Is he and Trent Reznor friends again? I know Trent pretty much catapulted him into mainstream and then they fell out for years but made up to film the video for Star*uckers Inc.
Am sure Courtney Love has some stories to tell about Manson. They hate each other, or did at one point.
Can confirm that Trent hates his guts. Big time.
I wasn’t necessarily a fan but he used to make the kind of music we were into as teenagers. Went to festivals every summer and I saw him live there in 2003 or 2004, can’t remember which year. It was a good show tbh but it gets tiring. Other bands from that era and earlier evolved or vanished and he should’ve vanished as well, imo. Just from a music perspective. I still like a lot of the bands that were around between the late 90s and early 00s but yeah, we all grew up I guess. I love to listen to a lot of it purely for the nostalgia (and some made truly good music) but man, he got exhausting fast. You can’t trade on shock value for 25 years.
I think he and Reznor remain on the outs? I didn’t know they worked together after their initial falling out.
Charisma can surpass any level of physical beauty, and he has always been incredibly charismatic. A trait which just so happens to be very common in most abusers, if not all of them.
yes, the charisma is a key part of an abusers game. Its how they lure their prey and how they reel their victims back in if they try to leave.
Does anyone know if MM can sue Evan for defamation? I hope he doesn’t retaliate in some way.
I can understand that, but he doesn’t even read charismatic. He’s just repulsive. Not that that makes his abuse any less horrific or otherwise changes anything, but even before this news, he is a physically repulsive human and it baffles me how he keeps finding beautiful women to be with.
When he came out, and I am talking about the late ’90s, we all thought he was playing a part, and that was his stage persone, than when you listen to his all interviews he seemed weird but at the sam time iintelligent, and in a certain way, for a specific public he had his appeal.
Now he seems like a 50’s yo man playing the angry goth teenager.
Yeah, I never really understood how (good-looking) women wound up attracted to him in the first place.
Shes lucky to be alive and that’s not even being dramatic. Domestic abuse like this leads up to murder. Its a fact.
She is incredibly brave for naming him (even though we all knew who it is putting this power behind it is so important) because his fans are f-ing vultures and are already torturing her the way they did to Amber Heard. F this Nazi and F this abuser.
ERW is unbelievably brave for talking about this and I think she and FKA Twiggs have both done such an amazing service to people to explain how grooming works and how everything escalates from there. I don’t think it is too much to say that thousands of young women will be able to recognize abusive behavior at an earlier stage because of how open they have been about what happened to them and they way they have contextualized it.
You know what else is terrible? Ever since ERW first spoke about the abuse she endured (even without naming him), I have realized he has always shown us who he is through his lyrics. The message in pretty much all of them is “I can’t stand the fact that not everyone may love me exactly the way I want to be loved, so if they won’t do it, I’ll destroy them”.
For sure but we didn’t all listen to that crap so it’s not surprising we didn’t know . Juggalos probably have horrid lyrics but I’ll never know one way or another as I won’t spend my energy on something so unpleasant
Insane Clown Posse has always been anti-racist and Juggalos are an incredibly diverse group of fans who happen to like garbage fights. I think ICP once toured as part of a festival with MM, but they are in no way associated with him.
Exactly! That’s the thing about relationships that are later on revealed to be abusive/assymetrical. It’s only by the end of them that you can see them clearly for what they are. Knowing what we now know about MM, his lyrics only become even more violent and destructive.
Yeah, don’t drag the Juggalos into this. They’ve proven themselves many times over at this point.
I don’t know how she has managed to survive.
I have nothing but respect for her, and her activism.
I’m so glad she is calling him out. We need to stop protecting abusers and start outing them. Also I hate that men think it’s OK to threaten women with naked photos or videos. And in the age of smart phones we probably all have that kind of stuff floating around and it should never be a career ender at this point. Jesus effing Christ can’t wait to move on! Who cares if someone has pictures of their naked body or videos out there? I hate that misogynistic crap.
No surprise there either. His whole “art” is rooted in images of abuse and control, Nazi ideas and their ways of doing science, like torturing the Jews in concentration camps i order to test science is a bog inspiration for those douchbags. Just look up the Nazi human science projects.
I remember coming across the cover jacket of an album of Marilyn Manson around the age of 10 or 11 at my aunt and uncle’s house in France, it belonged to my older (male) cousin. It was the Mechanic Animals album. I don’t remember the exact images but it was the first time I had ever seen a photo of Marilyn Manson or ever heard of him. The entire cover jacket images and songs really freaked me out as a young kid. As I got older, I assumed his persona and cultivated image with all the makeup was an act for his stage persona and maybe he wasn’t as scary as he looked or sounded. But nope, his nightmarish Halloween makeup isn’t just an act. His persona isn’t just a persona. That’s really him inside and out and he’s terrifying.
in addition to women, many men are coming forward to detail severe harassment and abuse by Brian over the years. this man had no boundaries around who he terrorized, man woman employee … it’s awful
Yes, Trent Reznor of NIN hates MM’s guts for the story in his autobiography which Trent has claimed since day one was untrue. I’ve never been a MM fan, so I’ll believe Reznor.
Agreed. I think he’s had so much protection it ultimately enabled him to behave in the way he has.
My Manson story is only a drop in the ocean compared to what the women coming forward have experienced, but he assaulted me at a gig in 1997. He’s known for being violent toward people in the audience and in this case, baseball threw a full, lidded, bottle of water into the crowd. I was only a few feet from the stage and it hit at reasonably full force. It was a horrible experience because I wasn’t sure what had happened and was stuck in a huge crowd of people. I ended up with bruising and swelling but was young and didn’t get it checked out or really push for some sort of acknowledgement. In a way I was embarrassed more than anything, and it felt personal even though there’s no way it could have been.
Some people who witnessed the whole thing contacted his tour rep in our country, and they were very comfortable with twisting the truth on his behalf, saying the bottle was empty. This sort of reaction suggests he has been enabled to varying degrees, in all kinds of behaviour, and has had very little ramifcation as a result. I know my experience was incredibly tiny by comparison, but that kind of violence does cast a long shadow and for a few years I found it very difficult to be in crowded situations. I can’t imagine what his intimate partners have gone through and how long their shadows are.
Wow, that really does track with his history of being a sh-tty person. I’m sorry that happened to you.
I (a woman) was assaulted by Marilyn Manson at a gig in 1997. It happened very quickly and I was young at the time and didn’t want to make a fuss about it despite the fact I had injuries which in all honesty still impact me today. For a few years after the gig I had a lot of trouble being in crowds, Manson’s actions cast long shadows, and for intimate partners I can’t begin to imagine just how big and dark those shadows are.
A witness phoned the tour promoter who was quite willing to twist what happened to make it seem like Manson was less abusive than he actually was. If you consider how willing those around him are to protect his behaviour for something relatively cut and dry (after all, I was feet from the stage amongst hundreds of people), then I can only imagine how calculated and predatory they are about larger instances of abuse. Manson is definitely responsible for his actions, and I believe those around him enable those actions to continue.
Has anyone read the other IG things and the stuff phoebe bridges said? I mean, he’s a freakin worthless, dumb*ss, misogynistic dumpster fire train wreck of an empty shell of a human being. It’s all really bad. I always want to think there is at least one tiny thing or something redeeming in people like him, or try to have empathy for them in some way, but I really can’t see anything and I absolutely don’t have any. He deserves to go to prison, honestly. I don’t know how you can criminalize emotional and psychological assault but it is every bit as violent as physical assault and it should be a crime. She’s so brave! Much respect for her and everyone coming forward.