Marilyn Manson has denied recent allegations from ex-fiance Evan Rachel Wood that he “essentially raped” her during the filming of the music video for his 2007 single “Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand).”
As previously reported, Wood detailed in her new documentary Phoenix Rising her alleged on-screen 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’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…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.”
In a statement to People, Manson’s attorney Howard King said, “Of all the false claims that Evan Rachel Wood has made about Brian Warner, her imaginative retelling of the making of the ‘Heart-Shaped Glasses’ music video 15 years ago is the most brazen and easiest to disprove, because there were multiple witnesses.”
King added, “Evan was not only fully coherent and engaged during the three-day shoot but also heavily involved in weeks of pre-production planning and days of post-production editing of the final cut. The simulated sex scene took several hours to shoot with multiple takes using different angles and several long breaks in between camera setups.”
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.”