Evan Rachel Wood accuses Marilyn Manson of abuse: 'I am done living in fear'
Actor Evan Rachel Wood on Monday publicly accused rocker Marilyn Manson for the first time of abusing her while they dated in the mid-to-late 2000s.
In an Instagram post, Wood alleged that Manson ― whose real name is Brian Warner ― began "grooming" her when she was a teenager and "horrifically abused" her for several years.
"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."
The two were often the subject of Hollywood gossip during their on-and-off relationship between 2006 and 2011 because of their 18-year age difference. Wood was 18 years old when she met Manson, and he was 36.
At least four other women ― identified on social media as Ashley Walters, Sarah McNeilly, Ashley Lindsay Morgan and Gabriella ― posted abuse allegations against Manson on Monday.
"As he was wooing me I would come to find out he was torturing others," McNeilly, a model, wrote in an Instagram post. "Before long I was the one being tortured."
"I was emotionally abused, terrorized and scarred," she wrote. "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."
A representative for Manson did not immediately respond to HuffPost's request for comment.
In 2018, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined to investigate a police report alleging that Manson was involved in unspecified sex crimes dating back to 2011, citing the statute of limitations and lack of corroboration. At the time, Manson "categorically denied" the allegations, according to his legal team.
Earlier that year, Wood testified before Congress on her experiences with domestic violence and sexual assault as part of an effort to get the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights passed in all 50 states.
"My self-esteem and spirit were broken," she said. "I was deeply terrified and that fear lives with me to this day. What makes me more hurt and more angry than the actual rape and abuse itself, was that piece of me that was stolen, which altered the course of my life."
Wood said the abuse caused her to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, which included depression, night terrors and agoraphobia.
She did not name her attacker during her testimony, though many fans speculated at the time that she was referring to Manson.
