Stars Who Can't Stand Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson, the shock-rock musician born Brian Warner who has fronted an eponymous band for decades, had made almost as many enemies as he did fans over the years — a lot of them famous. Presenting himself as a provocative, dangerous, and maybe even evil brand of libertine with an outspoken derision for social norms and common decency, Manson has offended many with his music, and allegedly traumatized and hurt others with his off-stage actions.
Ask a number of musicians, actors, and performers who know Manson personally, and they'll tell you that the persona is anything but an act designed to sell records. Several celebrities have publicly spoken out with allegations of abuse of many kinds — ranging from bullying to physical abuse to assault — against the man behind "The Dope Show" and "The Beautiful People." Here are the most prominent figures who loathe Marilyn Manson, an attitude they can justify with a litany of reasons.
Content warning: The following article contains details about sexual assault and abuse.
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood was 18 when she entered into a relationship with Marilyn Manson, who was 36 at the time. The "Westworld" actor and Manson, 18 years her senior, were engaged in January 2010 before splitting up in August. In February 2021, Wood accused Manson of sexual assault and abuse that occurred during their relationship. The actor had previously discussed her history of abuse, but this exposure marked the first time she'd publicly identified her abuser. "My experience with domestic violence was this," Wood told the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in 2018 (per USA Today) to lobby for the passage of a national sexual assault survivors bill of rights, "the 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."
Wood also provided testimony about abuse by a then-unnamed individual, later understood to be Manson, to the California Assembly Public Safety Committee. "The fear of retaliation from my abuser is paralyzing," Wood said (via Nylon). "I have been diagnosed with complex PTSD, including disassociation, panic attacks, night terrors, agoraphobia, impulse control, chronic pain in my body, among other symptoms."
Trent Reznor
Fans of Trent Reznor may not know that he gave the band known as Marilyn Manson some of its earliest and biggest breaks. The Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson frontmen were once friends and collaborators, and Reznor's Nothing Records released the group's first couple of albums. Reznor factors into the rise and fall of Manson, too — the relationship fractured in 1998, when in his memoir "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell," Manson claimed that he and Reznor once beat up and sexually assaulted an intoxicated woman. Reznor denied that the incident ever took place. The two reunited during a 2000 Nine Inch Nails concert, but the reconciliation didn't last. "[Manson] is a malicious guy and will step on anybody's face to succeed and cross any line of decency," Reznor told the music magazine Mojo in 2009 (via Spin).
Manson claimed the pair had made up by 2017, until that contentious excerpt from "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell" made the rounds on social media in 2021. "I have been vocal over the years about my dislike of Manson as a person and cut ties with him nearly 25 years ago," Reznor said in a statement (via Pitchfork). "As I said at the time, the passage from Manson's memoir is a complete fabrication. I was infuriated and offended back when it came out and remain so today."
Rose McGowan
Actor Rose McGowan, at the time best known for "Scream" and "Charmed," dated musician Marilyn Manson at the peak of his breakout success and early fame. The relationship lasted from 1997 to 2001, when McGowan called off the couple's engagement. In February 2021, after Evan Rachel Wood, Ashley Walters, Sarah McNeilly, Ashley Morgan, and a woman identified only as "Gabriella" alleged extreme misconduct on the part of Manson, McGowan, a major voice in the #MeToo movement who accused Harvey Weinstein of rape, released a statement of support (later deleted) on X, formerly known as Twitter. "The Cult of Hollywood, fame & the music industry must be stopped from protecting predators and selling their sickness to the world," McGowan wrote, according to Newsweek. "When he was with me, he was not like that, but that has no bearing on whether he was like that with others before and after," she added.
The same day that McGowan vowed support for Wood and other Manson accusers, the actor delivered another statement on Instagram, criticizing her former fiancé and others. "I am profoundly sorry to those who have suffered the abuse & mental torture of Marilyn Manson." McGowan said.
Phoebe Bridgers
Long before she became a 2020s indie rock icon, both for her solo work and as a member of the supergroup Boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers grew up playing in bands and busking in Southern California. As a teenager, one of her favorite acts was the band Marilyn Manson, and at one point she talked her way into a visit of the home of the group's namesake leader. Bridgers discussed the encounter in February 2021, after Manson's former partner, Evan Rachel Wood, alleged multiple counts of abuse and sexual misconduct.
"I went to Marilyn Manson's house when I was a teenager with some friends. I was a big fan," Bridgers wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in a thread that was later deleted (via NME). "He referred to a room in his house as the 'r*pe room,' I thought it was just his horrible frat boy sense of humor." It was on that day, after meeting Manson, that Bridgers said she "stopped being a fan," adding, "I stand with everyone who came forward" with allegations against the goth rocker.
Paul Stanley
In the early years of the band Marilyn Manson, members took on pseudonyms that combined the first name of a famous female celebrity with the last name of a notorious killer. A darkly satirical mashup of the positive and the negative, members of the group included Ginger Fish (Ginger Rogers + Albert Fish), Twiggy Ramirez (model Twiggy + Richard Ramirez), and eponymous frontman Marilyn Manson, who constructed his name from Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson. As a special Valentine's Day offering on his website in 2000, Marilyn Manson recorded a cover of "Sick City," a song written by Charles Manson, who released a studio album despite being in prison.
When Charles Manson died in prison in 2017, Marilyn Manson re-released his version of "Sick City" in a nod to his namesake. Paul Stanley, the longtime lead singer of theatrical rockers KISS, found the whole thing to be an exercise in extremely bad taste, and he let Manson and the world know. "Pathetic when somebody who's [sic] career never really took off is desperate enough to try for publicity by connecting himself to the news of a murdering scumbag's death," Stanley wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Moby
In November 2000, a Marilyn Manson concert at New York City's Roseland Ballroom ended in such violent onstage chaos that drummer Ginger Fish suffered a break to his collarbone. In reporting on the fracas, the New York Post quoted electronic musician Moby, who seemingly attended the show and didn't like what he saw. "It was disgusting. I'm waiting to see if the police want witnesses. That kind of violence is totally unnecessary onstage," Moby said (via ABC News).
However, Moby didn't attend the 2000 show — the New York Post quoted remarks that Moby delivered to a reporter in 1996 after watching a different Marilyn Manson show. That time, the stage antics resulted in Fish rendered unconscious by a blow from a tossed microphone stand. At any rate, Manson heard tell of Moby's 1996 comments via the 2000 press coverage. In response to Moby's admonishment, Manson delivered his own putdowns via a press release. After calling out the frequently licensed superstar DJ a "TV-commercial sound tracker," Manson explained the nature of his stage show. "On my stage that kind of violence is completely necessary. It's just unfortunate that Moby wasn't injured."
Charlyne Yi
Actor Charlyne Yi joined the cast of "House" in 2011 for what would be the medical drama's final season. Yi, who identifies as gender-fluid and uses they/them pronouns, was only on the series for a short time, but the experience left an indelible impression, particularly their interaction with Marilyn Manson when the latter made a set visit. After Manson seemingly suffered a mental break onstage during a New York City concert in February 2018, Yi took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to speak about their interaction with the musician.
"Ugh don't even get me started on Marilyn Manson. Yes this happened a long time ago — on the last season of 'House' he came on set to visit because he was a huge fan of the show & he harassed just about every woman," Yi wrote (according to Billboard; the tweets were later deleted). They added that Manson made multiple unwanted suggestive remarks about particular sex acts and called the actor of Asian descent "a China man."
Fred Durst
Marilyn Manson was probably the most controversial mainstream act of the mid-1990s, with organizations protesting concerts and blaming the band's edgy music for school shootings. By 1999, aggressive nu-metal acts such as Limp Bizkit came along to be the new controversial bands to upset parents. The group's mix of rap and hard rock, as performed by swaggering frontman Fred Durst, offended Manson, too. On a posting to his website (via CMJ New Music Report) in 1999, Manson said of bands like Korn (which has a tragic real-life story) and Limp Bizkit, "The illiterate apes that beat your a** in high school for being a 'f**' now sell you tuneless testosterone anthems of misogyny and pretend to be outsiders."
When asked about Manson's comments, which might have helped make Limp Bizkit one of the most hated bands in music, Durst delivered a pointed response. "I understand that Marilyn Manson is very unhappy that his career has gone in a shambles and he's alienated his fans," Durst told NME in November 1999. "So if he has to say things like that because he's very mad at himself, I would forgive him."
Corey Feldman
In a February 2021 Instagram post (which was later deleted), former child and teen star Corey Feldman detailed the two decades of bullying and abuse he endured at the hands of Marilyn Manson. Feldman posted a photo of himself and the musician, pinpointing it to 1998. "His press tour on 'Mechanical Animals' was where the decades long mental and emotional abuse began," Feldman wrote (per Consequence), explaining that Manson attempted to make the actor end a five-year sobriety period and "snort cocaine [with] him."
Feldman said that Manson harbored an aggressive, discomfiting fascination with him for years, proven by his frequent mentions in the musician's memoir "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell," and alleges that Manson kissed him without permission at the 1997 premiere of the movie "Private Parts." "He brags about it as if I was a special needs person he was making fun of," Feldman said. Manson also reportedly told Feldman he idolized him, and that he cribbed his fashion sense from the actor's character in the movie "Dream a Little Dream." "He used it as a way 2 manipulate me," Feldman explained.
Ellie Rowsell
English musician Ellie Rowsell formed Wolf Alice in 2010, which evolved from a folk duo into an experimental indie rock band that was nominated for a Grammy and a Mercury Prize. Marilyn Manson was a big fan of the band — or at least he claimed to be when he had ulterior motives in mind, according to Rowsell.
In 2021, after Manson's former partner Evan Rachel Wood detailed years of abuse, Roswell revealed her own seedy and ugly interaction with the musician. "Solidarity to Evan Rachel Wood and those calling out Marilyn Manson," Rowsell wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "I met Marilyn backstage at a festival a few years ago. After his compliments towards my band became more and more hyperbolic I became suspicious of his behavior." That's when Rowsell noticed that Manson had positioned a camera so that he could capture intimate and impermissible video footage from beneath her skirt. "There were no repercussions for his behavior, his tour manager simply said, 'he does this kind of thing all the time,'" Rowsell added.
Esmé Bianco
British actor Esmé Bianco is most recognizable for her recurring role as Ros on "Game of Thrones." She met Marilyn Manson in 2005 through her colleague Dita Von Teese, who was engaged to him. Following the end of that marriage, Manson reached out to Bianco in 2009 and asked her to star in a music video. She reported that the shoot lasted for three continuous days in which she was denied food and sleep, was dressed only in underwear, and was given cocaine. At one point, Bianco told The Cut, Manson threw a camera, bound the actor, struck her with a whip, and used an adult toy as a "torture device."
Nevertheless, a romantic relationship developed, characterized by violent sexual encounters to which Bianco did not consent. After ending her marriage to move in with Manson at his West Hollywood home, Bianco said the musician became very controlling, telling her how to dress, when she was allowed to leave and return home, and when she could sleep. "I was often violently shaken awake should I go to sleep without permission," Bianco testified to the California Assembly Public Safety Committee in 2019 while arguing in support of a domestic violence crime victims bill (via Medium).
"I basically felt like a prisoner," Bianco told The Cut. She was able to leave the home, and the relationship, when Manson was asleep one day in 2011, just after he reportedly tried to attack Bianco with an axe.
Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese, whose stage act emulates what it was like to be a burlesque dancer in the 1920s, entered into a relationship with Marilyn Manson in 2001. In December 2005, the couple got married, only for Von Teese to leave and begin divorce proceedings one year later. Von Teese left Manson on December 24, 2006, moving her things out of their home and decamping to Idaho for Christmas with relatives. She wouldn't reveal to the media at the time, or even a little bit later, the exact reasons why she ended the marriage. "Let's just say that it must have been something pretty bad for me to move out of the house after six years together and to pack up my stuff on Christmas Eve," she told Harper's Bazaar in 2007. "I loved him, and this was the most painful thing I have ever had to go through. It's been really difficult."
After the split with Von Teese, Manson connected with actor Evan Rachel Wood, who in 2021 divulged many allegations about Manson's violent and frightening behavior. Von Teese made her "sole statement" on the matter in a since-deleted Instagram post (via (via SkyNews). "Please know that the details made public do not match my personal experience during our seven years together as a couple," the dancer explained. "Had they, I would not have married him in December 2005. I left 12 months later due to infidelity and drug abuse."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault or is dealing with domestic abuse, contact the relevant resources below:
- Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
- Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.