Marilyn Manson accused of serial abuse by ex-fiancee

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson was dropped by his record label on Monday after actress and Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood claimed her ex-fiance "horrifically abused me for years."

"He started grooming me when I was a teenager," she added on Monday in an Instagram post. "I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission."

Wood also called 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."

Wood and Manson had an on-off relationship that began in 2007 when she was 19 and he was 37. She inspired his 2007 hit song Heart-Shaped Glasses. Their relationship ended in 2008. The couple later reconciled and were briefly engaged in 2010 but split again shortly after.

In an echo of the #MeToo movement, four other women also made allegations against Manson on Instagram, claiming he psychologically abused them over the last decade. All five accusers say that they have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, including model Ashley Lindsay Morgan, who herself wrote on Instagram: "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."

Dropped from record label 

Manson's record label, Loma Vista Recordings, responded quickly to what it called "disturbing allegations" by ceasing all promotional activities for his current album.

"Due to these concerning developments, we have also decided not to work with Marilyn Manson on any future projects," said the label in a statement.

Posting late Monday on Instagram, Manson dismissed the allegations as "horrible distortions of reality."

"My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how — and why — others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth," wrote the singer famous for his Gothic-inspired outfits and make-up. 

In 2009, Manson spoke of his initial breakup with Wood, telling an interviewer, "I have fantasies every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer." He said he had also self-harmed in the wake of the separation.

Seeking justice for sexual abuse

A previous allegation of sexual abuse against Manson was made by an anonymous woman in 2018 over incidents dating back to 2011. Manson again "categorically denied" the accusations and the singer wasn't pursued due to the lack of corroborative evidence and an expired statute of limitations.

In 2018, Evan Rachel Wood appeared before the US House Judiciary Committee to campaign for the 2016 Survivors' Bill of Rights Act to be enacted across the US. Although she did not name her abuser, she spoke of how he "had bouts of extreme jealousy, which would often result in him wrecking our home, cornering me in a room, and threatening me."

Wood then helped create the Phoenix Act, which urges US state lawmakers to extend the statute of limitations on domestic violence from three years to five. It was signed into law by California governor Gavin Newsom in October 2019 and took effect in January the next year.

'He broke her'

Dan Cleary, a guitar technician who toured with Manson, has previously said on Twitter that Manson turned Wood "into a different person" while on tour. "He broke her," he added.

Working as Manson's personal assistant between 2014 and 2015, Cleary further added that he witnessed first-hand how abusive Manson was to girlfriend Ashley Lindsay Morgan.

"He would threaten to kill her, cut her up, bury her, embarrass her to the world," he wrote.

Cleary appealed to Manson's apparently loyal fanbase to believe the allegations. "I see so many people defending him & calling his accusers liars I've just had enough. Believe them, I saw it."