Loma Vista drops Marilyn Manson in the wake of abuse allegations
Content warning: This article contains references to rape and sexual assault. Loma Vista records has confirmed that they will no longer be working with Marilyn Manson in the wake of the harrowing abuse allegations laid against him by actress Evan Rachel Wood.
Evan Rachel Wood took to Instagram to pen a statement alleging that for years, Marilyn Manson groomed and “horrifically abused” her.
“The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,” Wood wrote. “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.”
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In 2018, Wood testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee in a campaign to get the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights passed in 50 US states. At the time she withheld the name of her abuser.
“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 gaslighting and brainwashing, waking up to the man that claimed to love me raping what he believed to be my unconscious body,” she told the subcommittee.
The following year, Wood testified before California legislators on behalf of the Phoenix Act. The act, which was signed by Gavin Newsom October 7, extends the statute of limitations on domestic violence felonies from three to five years. It also requires police officers to undertake more training on intimate partner violence.
During her testament in front of the State Senate, Wood detailed that she had been groomed by an older man when she was 18.
“He cut me off from my close friends and family one by one, by exhibiting rage in some form or another when I was in contact with them,” she said during her testimony. “He had bouts of extreme jealousy, which would often result in him wrecking our home, cornering me in a room and threatening me.”
Wood detailed that her abuser left her terrified for her life, using techniques like starvation, sleep deprivation and threatening her life.
In the aftermath of Wood publishing her statement, she reposted allegations from at least four other woman who detailed incidents of rape, sexual assault and psychological abuse suffered at the hands of Manson.
Ashley Walters, a former personal assistant of Manson, alleged that the shock rocker used manipulated her with “mind control, torture tactics, i.e. using different sound frequencies that would shift your mood or make you nauseous, and spy devices to gather information for blackmailing”.
In another post, model Sarah McNeilley detailed her relationship with Manson. “He (Bryan Warner) lured me in with ‘love bombing’,” she claimed. Love Bombing, a manipulation technique recognised as behaviour in which an abuser overwhelms one with loving words and actions to order to coerce somebody into thinking you owe them something.
“As he was wooing me I would come to find out that he was torturing others. Before long, I was the one being tortured,” she explained. McNeilly went on to allege that Manson would lock her in rooms for hours, isolating her from friends and colleagues.
“I was verbally berated for hours upon hours. Blamed for everything under the sun in order to make me feel worthless,” she alleged.
McNeilly detailed several alleged violent outbursts, including an incident where Warner “threatened to bash my face in” and another when he threatened to “shank” a male friend.
In another testimony, a visual artist that practices under the moniker SourGirrrl, detailed a relationship she had with Manson at 22 when he was then 46. She alleges that Manson tied her up, sexually assaulted her, circulating naked photos of her without consent, and threatened to kill her.
“It has taken me five years to speak out and say that I was in an abusive relationship,” she wrote on Instagram. “I have been diagnosed with PTSD and still suffer from nightmares.”
Following the allegations being brought to light Manson’s record label, Loma Vista, have released a statement confirming that they are no longer working with the artist, and will cease to promote his forthcoming record.
“In light of today’s disturbing allegations by Evan Rachel Wood and other women naming Marilyn Manson as their abuser, Loma Vista Will Cease to further promote his current album effective immediately,” the statement read. “Due to these concerning developments, we have also decided not to work with Marilyn Manson on any future projects.”
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This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.