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Marilyn Manson Denies Sexual, Emotional Abuse Allegations As List Of Accusers Grows

At least seven women, including actor Evan Rachel Wood, have said they were abused by the rocker.

Musician Marilyn Manson on Monday denied allegations of physical and emotional abuse made by actor Evan Rachel Wood and at least six other women earlier that day.

Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, called the accusations “horrible distortions of reality” in an Instagram post. It was his first public statement addressing the claims.

“Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,” wrote Manson, 52. “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.”

Wood, 33, named Manson as her abuser for the first time in an Instagram post Monday, alleging he groomed her when she was a teenager and “horrifically abused” her for several years. The pair met when she was 18 and he was 36. They dated on and off from 2006 to 2010.

“I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission,” Wood wrote. “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.”

In a show of solidarity, at least six other women ― identified on social media as Ashley Walters, Sarah McNeilly, Ashley Lindsay Morgan, Torii Lynn, Scarlett Kapella and a woman named Gabriella ― accused Manson of abuse Monday.

Actor Rose McGowan, a prominent Me Too activist who was engaged to Manson for two years until their split in 2001, applauded the women for coming forward. In a video posted to Instagram, McGowan said she did not experience abuse while dating Manson but believed the women who said they did.

“I am profoundly sad today and disgusted, but I am mostly proud ― proud of Evan Rachel Wood and the others who have come forward against Marilyn Manson, my ex,” McGowan said in the video. “When he was with me, he was not like that. But that has no bearing on whether he was like that with others, before or after.”

McGowan accused those who “employed” Manson and “sanctioned” his behaviour of being accomplices in the alleged abuse.

“All the PR managers, agents, lawyers ― the Hollywood cult must be stopped,” she said.

Manson’s record label, Loma Vista Recordings, dropped him in response to the allegations Monday, stating it would neither promote his new album nor work with him in the future.

California state Sen. Susan Rubio (D), a domestic abuse survivor, urged the Justice Department on Monday to investigate the allegations against Manson.

“Individuals who engage in this kind of abuse are often serial offenders,” Rubio wrote in a letter to acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson and FBI Director Christopher Wray. “If these allegations are true, and no investigation is undertaken, we will be failing the victims and allowing a possible perpetrator to continue abusing unsuspecting victims. That must not be allowed to happen.”

Need help? In Australia, call 1800 RESPECT (737 732) for the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service.

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