Actress Evan Rachel Wood, a former fiancée of Marilyn Manson, claims she was “essentially raped on camera” by the rocker while filming his 2007 music video for “Heart-Shaped Glasses.”
According to NME, Wood makes the accusation in Phoenix Rising, a new documentary based on her advocacy. It had its world premiere on Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival (Jan. 23).
Following an initial claim from Wood, numerous women accused Manson of sexual and other forms of abuse last year. The musician is now facing litigation as a result of the heinous allegations, and the LA County Sheriff is investigating him.
Wood and Manson were dating at the time, and she agreed to star in his music video for “Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)” from his Eat Me, Drink Me album. However, in Phoenix Rising, she claims she was sexually abused on set.
Wood and Manson kiss and engage in theatrical sex in the music video’s opening sequence. Wood was the inspiration for the song. (Wood and Manson made their relationship public in January 2007, when Wood was 20 and Manson was 38.)
“We had discussed a simulated sex scene,” Wood explains of the shoot, “but once the cameras were rolling, he started penetrating me for real. I had never agreed to that. I’m a professional actress, I have been doing this my whole life. I’d never been on a set that unprofessional in my life up until this day. It was complete chaos, and I did not feel safe.”
She continues, “It was a really traumatizing experience filming the video. I didn’t know how to advocate for myself or know how to say no because I had been conditioned and trained to never talk back.”
“I felt disgusting and like I had done something shameful, and I could tell that the crew was very uncomfortable and nobody knew what to do. I was coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretenses. That’s when the first crime was committed against me and I was essentially raped on camera.”
Wood alleged Manson “started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years” in February 2021. At least four more people made accusations against him at the same time. Esmé Bianco, an actress, finally joined them.
Manson initially stated that the claims were false “horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how … others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.”
A lawyer for Manson alleged in July that Bianco and others were conspirators who were “trying to conflate the imagery and artistry of Warner’s ‘shock rock’ stage persona … with fabricated accounts of abuse.” However, the legal team for the musician has maintained its denial of the charges.
With the exception of a few appearances with Kanye West, Manson has mainly kept a low profile since the charges surfaced, leading to suspicion that he may have converted to Christianity.
Follow more of the rest of the story below.
