By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-15 07:41:51 | Updated at 2025-01-15 12:02:45
4 hours ago
Marilyn Manson's ex-girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood, has opened up about the music video in which the singer allegedly raped her.
The actress, from Nashville, Tennessee, appeared on the Channel 4 documentary, Marilyn Manson Unmasked, which delves into the allegations about the rock singer.
Evan claims she was just 18 years old when she met Manson, whose real name is Brian Hugh Warner, at an event in Hollywood while he was still married to burlesque model, Dita Von Teese.
She admitted that she did not think anything romantic could happen between them because she saw him as this 'well-established, much older man' who was taken.
However, feelings started to develop between the pair and they went public with their relationship in 2007 after Manson and Dita divorced.
Evan, who is 20 years Manson's junior, told the documentary, as per The Sun: 'I really thought this was something special, that he really loved me, and I was really safe, and I was really lucky.'
Manson was seemingly inspired by Evan, going on to write a song about her called Heart-Shaped Glasses. He also wanted Evan, who was only 19 at the time, to star in his music video.
Evan claims she was told there would be a sex scene but that it would be shot at such speed that it would appear as a 'blur'.
Evan Rachel Wood and Marilyn Manson are pictured at a gala in 2007, the year they went public with their relationship
The mother-of-one said that Manson 'always' had a glass of red absinthe in his hand and that they drank it together, adding that it seemed like any other ordinary day.
As they began filming, Evan said that things escalated so fast and alleged that Manson became 'aggressive' and started pulling her clothes off her body.
She recalled attempting to wrap her hands over herself in a bid to cover up, but claimed that Manson 'peeled' them off her body.
Evan said she heard the word 'cut' and saw the crew walk off, adding: 'I was just kind of sitting on the bed naked just crying. I felt so f***ing violated. But I didn't call it rape for like many, many years.'
Manson's lawyer Howard King told the documentary: 'It is demonstrably false that Brian raped Rachel Evan Wood while filming a music video. This was filmed in a studio, there were more than ten people within three feet of the bed.
'Brian had clothes on, although I suppose that wouldn't prevent this. None of those people have come forward and said they witnessed this act. It is completely fabricated and there is not a witness who will support it.'
Randy Sosin, former video commissioner for Interscope Records, described being confused about what was happening between Manson and Evan on set.
He said that he believes Evan's claims against Manson and said he did not know that she 'felt raped'.
The actress, from Nashville, Tennessee , appeared on the Channel 4 documentary, Marilyn Manson Unmasked, which delves into the allegations about the rock singer
Manson wanted Evan to star in his music video, Heart-Shaped Glasses and she was 19 at the time
Evan previously spoke about the alleged rape on HBO documentary, Phoenix Rising, where she described the incident as 'traumatising.'
She said in the 2022 documentary: 'We had discussed a simulated sex scene, but once the cameras were rolling, he started penetrating me for real. I had never agreed to that.
'I’m a professional actress, I have been doing this my whole life, I’d never been on a set that unprofessional in my life up until this day. It was complete chaos, and I did not feel safe. No one was looking after me.
'It was a really traumatising experience filming the video. I didn’t know how to advocate for myself or know how to say no because I had been conditioned and trained to never talk back — to just soldier through.
'I felt disgusting and like I had done something shameful, and I could tell that the crew was very uncomfortable and nobody knew what to do. I was coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretences.
'That’s when the first crime was committed against me and I was essentially raped on camera.'
Manson's lawyer denied these claims at the time, calling Evan's claim of rape an 'imaginative retelling' and insisting that the sex was simulated.
A Change.org petition was also created to get YouTube to remove Heart-Shaped Glasses, however, it still appears to be on the platform.
Evan Rachel Wood and Marilyn Manson are pictured at an art exhibition in Germany in 2007
Channel 4 also spoke to Bianca Allaine, a fan of the band who first met Manson when she was 16 years old.
She went to see them perform for her birthday and claims that Manson, who was 26 at the time, took her virginity on his tour bus in 1995.
Bianca said it was her first time going to a gig without her parents and the band had parked their bus right outside the 'small' venue.
She said that everyone who attended the show 'looked young', adding that she was wearing her school backpack at the time.
Bianca said the band signed her notebook paper and she went onto the back of their bus, alleging that Manson asked what grade she was in and what her mailing address and phone number were, so he could send her some merchandise.
She said she felt 'flattered' by the attention and alleged that he kissed her on the bus before requesting she perform oral sex on him.
Bianca said she 'didn't know what she was doing' and that it went even further. She added that she felt 'ashamed' and 'stupid'.
Manson’s lawyer, Howard King, says Bianca’s claims are false and that he never met her.
Manson in Belknap Superior Court on September 18, 2023, in Laconia, New Hampshire
Game of Thrones star Esme Bianco also filed a lawsuit that accused Manson of sexual assault, sexual battery, and human trafficking while they were dating in 2011
Manson also settled lawsuits by two women including Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco in 2023, denying all allegations against him.
Esme's lawsuit accused Manson of sexual assault, sexual battery, and human trafficking while they were dating in 2011.
She claimed he kept her locked in a bedroom in his West Hollywood apartment to keep her from fleeing, and wouldn't let her eat or sleep without his permission.
Esme alleged in her lawsuit, filed in April 2021, that Manson frequently abused her verbally, deprived her of sleep and food, bit, cut and electrocuted her without her consent; and raped her during their two years together.
Manson denied the allegations, calling them 'twisted tales that bear no resemblance to reality', but eventually settled the case.
He settled another with an unnamed women in 2023, who claimed he orally and vaginally raped her.
She said in the lawsuit that the abuse happened in 2011 and Manson also deprived her of food, sleep and a sense of safety.
Evan never took him to court but Manson filed a defamation lawsuit against her and her friend, Illma Gore, over what he calls 'malicious' and 'false' sexual abuse allegations which 'derailed his successful music, TV and film career'.
A judge threw out parts of Manson's lawsuit last August.
In November 2024, Manson dropped all ligation against Evan and said he would cover her $327,000 legal bill following a judge's order to do so, sources told TMZ.
'After 4 years of fighting a battle where he was able to tell the truth,' Manson's lawyer Howard King told TMZ, 'Brian is pleased to dismiss his still-pending claims and appeal in order to close the door on this chapter of his life.'
'Manson's lawsuit in the first place was 'a publicity stunt to try to undermine the credibility of his many accusers and revive his faltering career,' a representative for Evan said in a statement to the outlet. 'But his attempt to silence and intimidate Ms. Wood failed.
'As the trial court correctly found, Warner's claims were meritless. Warner's decision to finally abandon his lawsuit and pay Ms. Wood her full fee award of almost $327,000 only confirms as much.'
Evan said in a February 2021 Instagram post, '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.'
Evan said she was 'here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives' and stood 'with the many victims who will no longer be silent.'
Manson issued a statement on social media at the time in response to Evan's initial post, saying, 'Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are 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.'
