Marilyn Manson said he fantasized about ‘smashing’ Evan Rachel Woods’ ‘skull in with a sledgehammer’

In an interview in 2009, Manson said he fantasized ‘every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer’. He was talking about then girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood. They became engaged afterwards but never got married. On Monday, she said he subjected her to years of abuse. They are shown in 2007

Marilyn Manson said he fantasized every day about smashing former girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood’s skull in with a sledgehammer in a 2009 interview that resurfaced on Monday after she and four other women accused him of abuse. 

Wood took to Instagram on Monday morning to allege years of ‘horrific’ abuse by Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner.

She said in a statement: ‘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. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives.

‘I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.’ 

Around the same time, four other women posted similar statements on Instagram.

They are Ashley Walters, Sarah McNeilly, Ashley Lindsay Morgan and a woman who gave her name only as Gabriella. Two are models, one is a photographer who then worked as Manson’s assistant and the fourth is an artist. 

Not all of them gave dates for when they met Manson or how long they spent with him. They all allege a variety of misconduct and abuse by Manson. 

It’s unclear why they all decided to speak out on Monday or if any of them have taken their claims to the police. 

Wood reconciled with her English actor Jamie Bell after her romance with Manson ended in 2010. She and Bell had one son together before splitting in 2013. She then revealed she was bisexual and dating a non-binary partner in 2019, but she did not reveal who they were.  

Manson has not addressed their allegations. He has, in the past, denied violence. But in a 2009 interview with Spin, he made disturbing remarks about wanting to ‘smash’ Wood’s skull in.  

He was being asked about his new album and was asked: ‘It sounds like the period after you and Evan Rachel Wood broke up was really tough. What was your lowest point?’ 

He replied: ‘My lowest point was Christmas Day 2008, because I didn’t speak to my family. My walls were covered in scrawlings of the lyrics and cocaine bags nailed to the wall. 

‘And I did have an experience where I was struggling to deal with being alone and being forsaken and being betrayed by putting your trust in one person, and making the mistake of that being the wrong person. And that’s a mistake that everyone can relate to. I made the mistake of trying to, desperately, grasp on and save that and own it. And every time I called her that day — I called 158 times — I took a razor blade and I cut myself on my face or on my hands.

‘I didn’t want people to ask me every time I did an interview, “Oh, is this record about your relationship with your ex-girlfriend?” But that damage is part of it, and the song “I Want to Kill You Like They Do in The Movies” is about my fantasies. 

‘I have fantasies every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer.’  The interviewer replied: ‘Wow’. He replied: ‘Merry Christmas’. 

Manson and Wood got engaged after the interview and did not break up for another year after it took place.  

In November 2020, the comments resurfaced. Then, his reps played them down as him being a ‘theatrical rockstar’.  

‘He horrifically abused me for years’: Evan Rachel Wood, 33, has alleged ex-fiancé Marilyn Manson, 52, ‘groomed and brainwashed her as a teenager’ (pictured in June 2007, the year they went public, when she was 20 and he was 38)

Evan is shown in Westworld with co-star James Marsden

The four other women who made allegations about Manson on Monday… 

Ashley Walter

ASHLEY WALTERS 

Walters said she met Manson after he contacted her on social media asking to collaborate. She is a photographer and says she admired his work. 

She says she started working for him as a personal assistant after six months, that the pair became close but then their relationship changed.

‘I continue to suffer from PTSD, and struggle with depression. I stayed in touch with quite a few people who went through their own traumas, under his control. 

‘As we all struggled, as survivors do, to get on with our lives, I’d keep hearing stories disturbingly similar to our own experiences. 

‘It became clear the abuse he’s caused; he continues to inflict on so many and I cannot stand by and let this happen to others. 

‘Brian Warner needs to be held accountable.’

Sarah McNeilly

SARAH MCNEILLY

Model Sarah McNeilly also used the phrase ‘love bombing’.  She says Warner ‘lured’ her in. 

She did not gave dates for when they knew each other but says the relationship left her with PTSD.  

‘I have been afraid to bring any spotlight upon myself as to avoid winding up in his cross hairs 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’ 

Ashley Lindsay Morgan

ASHLEY LINDSAY MORGAN

Morgan said she met Manson when she was working as a model in Thailand in 2009/2010. 

She claims they had a mutual friend and that after talking and texting for months, he flew her to Los Angeles. 

She did not detail how long they spent together but alleged abuse. 

‘I have night terrors, PTSD, anxiety, and mostly crippling OCD. I try to wash constantly to get him out or off of me.

‘I am coming forward so he will finally stop,’ she said in part.

I have night terrors, PTSD, anxiety, and mostly crippling OCD. I try to wash constantly to get him out or off of me.

‘I am coming forward so he will finally stop.’

GABRIELLA

Gabriella 

An artist called Gabriella said she met him in 2015 when she was 22 and he was 46 backstage at one of his shows.

She says he ‘love bombed’ her immediately. ‘Things went from 0 to 100 at full speed… he worked a kind of magic on me,’ she said.

‘I had fallen deeply for an illusion of safety and love. Every aspect of my life was affected I suffered financially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

‘It has taken me five years to speak out. I have been diagnosed with PTSD and still suffer from nightmares. I blocked out a lot of the memories, but the feelings remain and manifest in various ways. The reason I’m finally sharing this traumatic 

‘Experience is for my healing and because I’m done being silent. I don’t believe it’s fair for someone to not be held accountable for their horrific actions. 

‘I’m not a victim. I’m a survivor.’ 

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‘The comments where Manson had a fantasy of using a sledgehammer on Evan and he cut himself 158 times was obviously a theatrical rockstar interview promoting a new record, and not a factual account. The fact that Evan and Manson got engaged six months after this interview would indicate that no one took this story literally.’ 

In their statements, they detailed ‘harrowing experiences that they claim included sexual assault, psychological abuse, and/or various forms of coercion, violence, and intimidation’. 

Manson’s reps have ‘categorically denied’ similar accusations in the past but they have not yet addressed the statements the women made on Monday.

In 2018, Wood described being abused in front of a House Judiciary Committee as part of a campaign to pass a bill of rights protecting abuse victims. She did not name her abuser at the time and said she had been told she could not take it to police because the statute of limitations had expired. 

 ‘My experience with domestic violence was this: Toxic mental, physical and sexual abuse which started slow but escalated over time, including threats against my life, severe gas-lighting and brainwashing, waking up to the man that claimed to love me raping what he believed to be my unconscious body,’ she said. 

She also said she had only agreed to come forward because she learned that the her abuser had hurt other women too.  

In 2007, Evan starred in Manson’s music video for his single, Heart-Shaped Glasses (When The Heart Guides The Hand). She was 20 at the time

In 2018, Wood testified before Congress about being raped and abused as part of a campaign for tougher domestic violence and abuse laws. She did not name her abuser at the time 

The Hollywood Reporter wrote that in May of 2018, a police report was filed against Manson citing unspecified sex crimes that allegedly took place in 2011.

But in August of 2018, the Los Angeles District’s Attorney office announced that it was declining to pursue that case because of a lack of corroborating evidence.

Manson is now married to artist Lindsay Usich. They got married in lockdown in February 2020

It is unclear who the victim in that case was. 

Manson’s attorney at the time, Howard E. King, told The Hollywood Reporter that the ‘allegations made to the police were and are categorically denied by Mr. Warner and are either completely delusional or part of a calculated attempt to generate publicity. 

‘Any claim of sexual impropriety or imprisonment at that, or any other, time is false.’

Manson is currently married to artist Lindsay Usich. They got married in February last year during lockdown in a small ceremony that Nicholas Cage said he watched over FaceTime.

Before Wood, he was married to burlesque performer Dita Von Teese from 2005-2007 and they dated for six years prior. 

Von Teese has never alleged abuse by him.    

He claimed after they split that she couldn’t accept his rockstar lifestyle.  

‘But buyer beware. She said she had tolerated the lifestyle because she hoped I would change and threatened to leave if I didn’t. I was sleeping on the couch in my own home. I was no longer supposed to be a rockstar. I was someone who had to be apologized for. I wasn’t prepared to be alone. I came out of this naked, a featherless bird,’ he said. 

She told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘Everything went downhill after we got married. 

‘I started working a lot to escape my home life.’

Before Dita, he’d been engaged to Rose McGowan. She ended their engagement in 2001, blaming ‘lifestyle differences.’ 

In a statement, the actress famously said: ‘There is great love, but our lifestyle difference is, unfortunately, even greater.’ 

She has not accused him of abuse. McGowan was famously among the first women to speak out against Harvey Weinstein. 

In 2018, when revealing she had been abused but without naming Manson, she said she was told by her lawyers that she could not bring any action against the person who had hurt her because the statute of limitations had passed.

It extends the statute of limitations in California on domestic violence felonies from three to five years. 

Former love: Manson was married to burlesque performer Dita Von Teese from 2005-2007, (pictured together in May 2006)