US singer Marilyn Manson under investigation over domestic abuse allegations
- Actress Evan Rachel Wood named the singer as her abuser in a recent social media post
- Manson has denied the allegations of abuse, calling his accusers’ statements ‘horrible distortions of reality’
US singer Marilyn Manson, facing a growing number of sexual and physical abuse accusations, is now the target of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s criminal investigation into allegations of domestic violence.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Special Victims Bureau is investigating allegation(s) of domestic violence involving Mr Brian Warner also known as ‘Marilyn Manson,’ who works in the music industry,” the department said in a statement. “The incidents occurred between 2009 and 2011 when Mr Warner lived in the city of West Hollywood.”
Manson has denied the allegations of abuse, calling his accusers’ statements “horrible distortions of reality.” His representatives did not make a response to the launch of the new criminal investigation.
Investigators did not specify who made the allegations against the performer, but the dates coincide with his relationship with Evan Rachel Wood, star of HBO’s Westworld.
Wood, who had previously testified in congressional and state hearings as a victim of sexual and domestic violence but not identified the perpetrator, named the singer as her abuser in a recent social media post. When she was 19 and he was 37, Wood and Manson began publicly dating in 2007, and they got engaged in 2010 before splitting up in August of that year.
“He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years,” the actress wrote in her Instagram post that led several other women in relationships with Warner to also come forward with allegations. “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,” Wood added. “I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.”
California Senator Susan Rubio, who previously collaborated with the actress on California legislation on domestic violence, called for a criminal investigation into Manson. SB 1141 was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September.
“The allegations of physical, emotional, and financial abuse against Marilyn Manson, also known as Brian Hugh Warner, must be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated,” Rubio said in a statement this month. “If law enforcement does not do that, we will not only fail these victims, but future possible victims of this alleged perpetrator.”
It is not the first time Manson has been the subject of a criminal investigation. As the #MeToo movement grew and women came forward with allegations of sexual and physical violence, an investigation was initiated into the singer over allegations dating to 2011.
In August 2018, the Los Angeles District’s Attorney office announced that it was declining to pursue that case because of a lack of corroborating evidence. His then-lawyer dismissed the allegations as “either completely delusional or part of a calculated attempt to generate publicity.”
Manson says he has done nothing wrong. “Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,” Manson posted this month on Instagram. “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.”
