American singer Marilyn Manson was charged on Monday with harassment and rape by several women, including American actress Evan Rachel Wood, who says she has been subjected to horrific abuse for years.
At least five women posted allegations against Brian Hugh Warner (his real name) on his Instagram account almost simultaneously.
Evan Rachel Wood, 33, claims the singer psychologically manipulated her when she was not yet 20. She says she was subsequently subjected to horrific abuse for years.
The actress who takes part in the series Westworld, was officially in a relationship with Marilyn Manson for several years before they became engaged in 2010. They split up a few months later.
In 2018, the actress testified before the Judicial Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, in which she recalled her long ordeal as a victim of psychological and physical abuse.
In his message posted Monday, he revealed that his attacker, whose name he declined to name at the time, is Brian Hugh Warner. In Congress she had alleged, among other things, that she had been raped several times.
Four other women, who said they were romantically involved with him, accused the artist on Monday of manipulation, intimidation, abuse and threat.
One of them also mentions multiple violations. Their relationship started in 2015.
At the age of 52, Marilyn Manson created a public persona with a haunting, Gothic-inspired image. She wears different colors of makeup and contact lenses and black hair.
The name of what was originally a band, but has now been reduced to its personality, is inspired by Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson, known for murdering actress Sharon Tate.
Its musical universality, “shock rock”, combines metal rock with a predilection for the spectacularity of the staging to capture its audience.
The women who testified Monday, many of them former groupies, portrayed a character who was both seductive and manipulative, capable of tying them up, threatening them with death, or forcing them to use drugs.
Several of the alleged victims claim to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I’m tired of living in fear of retaliation, slander and blackmail,” wrote Evan Rachel Wood.
Asked by AFP, neither the spokesperson nor the singer’s lawyer responded immediately.