More Women and Former Assistants Accuse Marilyn Manson of Abuse

Following in the footsteps of Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood, more women, and two of the singer’s former personal assistants, have now come forward to level allegations of abuse against Marilyn Manson.

This morning, Wood wrote a post on Instagram in which she said that Manson, her former fiancée, “horrifically abused me for years.” While she has implied in the past that Manson abused her, this was the first time she explicitly named the shock rocker.

Since then, Wood has shared the stories of three more women — Ashley Lindsay Morgan, Sarah McNeilly, and Gabriella — who all also say that Manson abused them.

Additionally, she has shared the testimony of two of Manson’s former assistants. One of them, Ashley Walters, says she was abused by Manson; the other, Dan Cleary, says he witnessed Manson’s abusive behavior towards others firsthand.

McNeilly’s post reads:

“He (Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson )lured me in with ‘love bombing’. Posing as the perfect boyfriend. Claiming he was just misunderstood.

“Charming, smart, funny, charismatic. As he was wooing me I would come to find out he was torturing others. Before long I was the one being tortured.

“I was emotionally abused, terrorized and scarred. I was locked in rooms when I was ‘bad’, sometimes forced to listen to him entertaining other women. Kept away from certain friends or if I didn’t he would threaten to come after them. I was told stories of others who tried to tell their story and their pets ended up dead. I wasn’t allowed to go near other artists working on the same set, as he told me they had aids and were disgusting and if I did so he would be very upset and ‘I wouldn’t want that’. I was verbally berated for hours upon hours. Blamed for everything under the sun in order to make me feel worthless. Any male friends in my life were not allowed any longer. He threatened to shank one of them after they posted something on my Facebook page.    

“I was thrown up against a wall and he threatened to bash my face in with the baseball bat he was holding, for trying to get him to pick out a pair of pants prior to a music video. I witnessed him staging problems or hiding missing objects in order to justify his violent outbursts. I witnessed him recording others unknowingly in order to have blackmail on most anyone who entered ‘the meat locker’ (as I called his home, it was kept at a chilly 62 degrees always). I witnessed him terrorize and abuse others in my presence. Slander his exes.

“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.”

Many of McNeilly’s claims of abuse, gaslighting, and controlling behavior are echoed in the stories of the other women who have come forward.

Morgan says that she “was given rules and got ‘in trouble’ for any behavior he didn’t approve of… He would throw me out of the house in next to no clothing if I fell asleep at 3 am. I wasn’t aloud to eat, or sleep, or leave.” She also claims that there was “sexual violence, physical violence, and coercion.”

Gabriella, meanwhile, alleges Manson raped her — “I sobbed on the floor… and when I looked at him, he was smiling” — and took nude photos of her when she was tied up, which he subsequently shared with friends.

Walters said she began working as Manson’s personal assistant in 2010. “It felt like I was his property,” she writes, “because he would offer me up for sexual encounters to please potential collaborators or friends and bragged that he could do so.” She says Manson would “frequently become violent, throwing items including glass plates and heavy objects;” that the singer “was extremely interested in mind control, torture tactics… and spy devices to gather information for blackmailing and manipulation.” When she attempted to tell Manson’s management about the singer’s behavior, she says, “they’d say things like ‘It is what it is’ or ‘He’s done worse.’”

Finally, there’s Cleary, another one of Manson’s former personal assistants. He first leveled his accusations against Manson back in September, at which time they went largely unnoticed:

“I worked directly with Marilyn Manson in 2007-2008 for his touring band when Evan Rachel Wood was with him. She was on tour with us the entire time. Over the course of 1 year he turned her into a different person. He broke her. I didn’t totally realize until later in life.

“I then starting working for him as his personal assistant in 2014-2015. I saw first hand, over & over him being an abusive violent boyfriend to his GF Lindsay. Over the almost 2 year stretch I saw her in tears & him screaming & belittling her more often than I didn’t.

“He would threaten to kill her, cut her up, bury her, embarrass her to the world. Making her cry & fear him made him feel good. He would remind her that she’d be homeless without him and make fun of her learning disabled family member.

“Everyone in his immediate circle knows this. But everyone (including myself) is afraid to say anything because of ‘the code’. It’s frowned upon to tell people’s private business.

“Those of us that stay quiet do it because we were making a living. And it’s hard to find work in music if you can’t keep your mouth shut. But enough is enough. His fans will be angry & not believe it because they don’t want to. I understand that. I’m sorry to them. But it’s true.

“I will also say that a reason I stayed quiet is because of a kind thing he did. On tour in 2007 my stepmom died suddenly. The Manson camp flew me home for a week on their dime & paid me anyway. I will still never forget that & it sincerely meant a lot to me.

“But as I see so many people defending him & calling his accusers liars I’ve just had enough. Believe them, I saw it. I have nothing to gain from this & plenty to lose. There are people in his band/crew that I’m still close to. My apologies to them. But they also know I’m right.

“He is a brilliant musician, an incredibly smart & funny man. But he’s also a mentally & physically abusive drug addict that has the ability to be super kind & emotional. It’s hard to wrap your head around. I’m not asking for him to be ‘canceled’, fuck ALL that cancel stuff.

“My sole focus is for people to not call these women liars. They’re not. Manson gave me a living for a long time, gave me great music as a kid, I appreciate the opportunities. I saw the entire world for the 1st time with him. This was not easy but I had to do it. I stand by it.”

Today, after Wood and the other women came forward, Cleary added:

“It’s gonna be a long day for someone. Shit, meet the fan. I told you before. Believe the women. Proud of them for naming their abuser. There’s strength in numbers. Sadly the number is high.”

You can read all of the posts below.

This past November, Manson abruptly ended an interview with Metal Hammer when they asked him about the allegations. Reps for Manson subsequently released a statement in which they implied that Wood was actually referring to Wood’s The Wrestler co-star, Mickey Rourke; questioned why Wood became engaged to Manson if he was abusing her; and pointed to Manson’s ongoing friendship with a different ex-finacée, the actress Rose McGowan, a leader of the Me Too movement (the implication being that McGowan wouldn’t be friends with Manson if Manson was an abuser).

The allegations against Manson are made all the more unsettling by the fact that in 2017, the singer parted ways with his longtime bassist and collaborator, Jeordie “Twiggy Ramirez” White, after White was accused of rape by his ex-girlfriend, Jack Off Jill frontwoman Jessicka Addams.

[via Metal Injection]