After Evan Rachel Wood accused her ex Marilyn Manson, born Brian Warner, of sexual assault on February 1, the wall of silence surrounding the musician quickly crumbled. Since the Westworld star spoke out, at least 17 other women have stepped forward with similar allegations, including emotional abuse, gaslighting, drugging and violence.
Manson, 52, has denied the claims. Posting to social media on February 2nd, he said that the accusations were "horrible distortions of reality" and that his "intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners."
Manson's record label, Loma Vista Recordings, his manager, and his talent agency have since dropped him, as women continue to come forward. The most recent of whom is Ashley Morgan, who spoke out about the singer on May 5th, 2021.
Here is a timeline of the allegations levelled against the musician.
(Credit: Alamy)1. February 2021 - Evan Rachel Wood names Manson as her abuser
On February 1st, 2021, the Westworld actress took to Instagram to share a statement, which read: "The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson. He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander or blackmail.
"I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent," she added.
The 33-year-old began dating Manson in 2007, and got engaged in 2010 — later breaking up that same year.
In 2018, Wood testified before a House Judiciary Subcommittee in part of an effort to get the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights passed in all 50 states. "My experience with domestic violence was this: Toxic mental, physical and sexual abuse which started slow but escalated over time, including threats against my life, severe gaslighting and brainwashing, waking up to the man that claimed to love me raping what he believed to be my unconscious body," she stated at the time, without naming the perpetrator.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, in May of 2018 — in the height of the #MeToo movement — a police report was filed against the musician citing unspecified sex crimes that reportedly took place in 2011. In August, the Los Angeles District's Attorney's office announced that it was declining to pursue the case due to a lack of evidence.
Manson's lawyer, Howard E. King, told the publication that the "allegations made to the police were and are categorically denied by Mr. Warner and are either completely delusional or part of a calculated attempt to generate publicity…. Any claim of sexual impropriety or imprisonment at that, or any other, time is false."
(Credit: Alamy)2. February 2021 — Four more women step forward following Wood's statement
Following Wood's accusation, four other women — Ashley Walters, Sarah McNeilly, Ashley Lindsay Morgan and a fourth woman who has asked to remain anonymous — spoke to Vanity Fair about their alleged experiences with Manson.
"I continue to suffer from PTSD, and struggle with depression," Walters told Vanity Fair. "I stayed in touch with quite a few people who went through their own traumas, under his control. As we all struggled, as survivors do, to get on with our lives, I’d keep hearing stories disturbingly similar to our own experiences. It became clear the abuse he’s caused; he continues to inflict on so many and I cannot stand by and let this happen to others. Brian Warner needs to be held accountable."
Sarah McNeilly alleged: "I have been afraid to bring any spotlight upon myself as to avoid winding up in his crosshairs again. As a result of the way he treated me, I suffer from mental health issues and PTSD that have affected my personal and professional relationships, self-worth and personal goals. I believe he gets off on ruining people’s lives. I stand in support of all that have and all will come forward. I want to see Brian held accountable for his evil."
"I have night terrors, PTSD, anxiety, and mostly crippling OCD. I try to wash constantly to get him out or off of me…. I am coming forward so he will finally stop," Ashley Lindsay Morgan corroborated.
"It has taken me five years to speak out and say that I was in an abusive relationship. I have been diagnosed with PTSD and still suffer from nightmares," the fourth woman claimed, regarding her relationship with Manson. "I blocked out a lot of the memories, but the feelings remain and manifest in various ways. The reason I’m finally sharing this traumatic experience is for my healing and because I’m done being silent. I don’t believe it’s fair for someone to not be held accountable for their horrific actions. I’m not a victim. I’m a survivor."
Manson denied the allegations.
(Credit: Alamy)3. February 2021 — Phoebe Bridgers
The singer wrote on Twitter about her alleged experience at Manson's home when she was a teenager. "I went to Marilyn Manson’s house when I was a teenager with some friends. I was a big fan," she said.
"He referred to a room in his house as the 'rape room', I thought it was just his horrible frat-boy sense of humour. I stopped being a fan. I stand with everyone who came forward."
She also claimed that "the label knew, management knew, the band knew. Distancing themselves now, pretending to be shocked and horrified is f*cking pathetic."
Manson has denied the allegations.
(Credit: Alamy)4. February 2021 — Ellie Rowsell
Wolf Alice singer, Ellie Rowsell, took to Twitter on February 6th, 2021, to accuse Manson of filming up her skirt while backstage at a festival.
"Solidarity to Evan Rachel Wood and those calling out Marilyn Manson. It's sad to see people defending him, just because he put his depravity in plain sight doesn't give him a free pass to abuse women?!" she wrote.
"I met Marilyn backstage at a festival a few years ago," she continued. "After his compliments towards my band became more and more hyperbolic I became suspicious of his behaviour. I was shocked to look down and see he was filming up my skirt with a gopro. There were no repercussions for his behaviour," she wrote, adding that a member of his tour staff said, "'he does this kind of thing all the time.'"
Manson has denied the allegations.
(Credit: Alamy)5. February 2021 — Esme Bianco
In an interview with New York Magazine on February 10th, 2021, the Game of Thrones actress called Manson a "monster who almost destroyed me and almost destroyed so many women".
She alleged that over the course of their relationship, Manson assaulted her in a music video shoot and during sex. She also claimed that he controlled her life, once chased her with an axe and cut her with a knife.
"I basically felt like a prisoner," she told the publication. "I came and went at his pleasure. Who I spoke to was completely controlled by him. I called my family hiding in the closet."
In a lawsuit filed on April 30th, Bianco claims that Manson "raped" her "in or around May 2011" when she was "unconscious or otherwise unable to consent". She also says that Mason and his former manager, Tony Ciulla, violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act when the rocker "employed fraud" to convince her to move to America for a video and movie that didn't transpire.
On May 1st, the Associated Press reported that Manson denied Bianco's allegations. A statement from his lawyer read: "These claims are provably false. To be clear, this suit was only filed after my client refused to be shaken down by Ms. Bianco and her lawyer and give in to their outrageous financial demands based on conduct that simply never occurred. We will vigorously contest these allegations in court and are confident that we will prevail."
(Credit: People / Instagram)6. May 2021 — Ashley Morgan Smithline
In a new interview with People, model Ashley Morgan Smithline dubbed her ex, Manson, the "most terrifying monster in the world".
She accused the rocker of raping her, cutting her, and locking her in a glass, soundproof room – which he allegedly called "the bad girls’ room" – whenever she "p*ssed him off".
"He kept telling me, ‘you can’t rape someone that you’re in love with'," Smithline told the publication. "There’s a difference between waking up to someone having sex with you nicely in the morning and waking up tied up with someone having sex with your unconscious body, being tied up and screaming and not enjoying it, and him laughing, like, sadistically, or gagging my mouth or something."
She also claimed that she was brainwashed by Manson over the course of their two-year relationship — which she says spanned between 2010 and 2012 — alleging that the musician once carved his initials into her thigh. She said this still makes her feel "disgusting".
"He cut me on my stomach and then drank my blood. Then, he had me drink his," Smithline continued. "The more I let him hurt me, the more I loved him and the more I was proving myself to him."
A spokesperson for Manson has since denied the most recent accusations against the Sweet Dreams singer, stating, per The Independent: "There are so many falsehoods within her claims that we wouldn’t know where to begin to answer them. This relationship, to the limited extent it was a relationship, didn’t last one week."