Evan Rachel Wood reveals in the new documentary Phoenix Rising how her former fiance Marilyn Manson “essentially raped” her during the filming of the music video for his 2007 single “Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand).”
Phoenix Rising premiered at the Sundance Film Festival over the weekend. The film chronicles Wood’s activism for domestic violence survivors and delves into her going public with naming Manson as her abuser.
Per Pitchfork, Wood details in the documentary her on-screen alleged sexual assault at the hands of Manson saying, “We had discussed a simulated sex scene, 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 continued, “No one was looking after me. 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—to just soldier through.”
Wood concluded, “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.”
As previously reported, Wood first named Manson as her abuser in an Instagram post on February 1, 2021. In the post, she wrote, “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.”
Phoenix Rising director Amy Berg details the making of the documentary in the video below. According to Variety, the Phoenix Rising will air in two parts on HBO at a later date.