Wednesday 13 has commented on the abuse allegations leveled against his onetime tourmate Marilyn Manson, saying that Manson is “innocent until proven guilty.”
More than two months ago, “Westworld” actress Evan Rachel Wood named Manson as the previously anonymous abuser she referenced while testifying before the California Senate in relation to the state’s Phoenix Act, which extends the statute of limitations on domestic violence from three years to five. On February 1, Wood claimed in a social media post that Manson “groomed” and “horrifically” abused her for years. After she shared her accusations, at least half a dozen other women came forward with their own allegations against the singer. The women claimed to have endured “sexual assault, psychological abuse, and/or various forms of coercion, violence, and intimidation” at the hands of Manson.
In the days after Wood came forward with her allegations, Manson was dropped by his longtime manager Tony Ciulla, his label, Loma Vista Recordings, as well as the talent agency CAA, which provides representation for individuals across various mediums. Previously filmed scenes of “American Gods” and “Creepshow” featuring Manson were also pulled.
Asked in a new interview with Bob Suehs of Rock N Roll Experience if he is afraid of “cancel culture” coming after him, Wednesday 13 said: “It’s… not necessarily coming after me. I just think it’s such a dangerous thing. It’s almost like a court and jury without all the facts, and everybody can just read the headline and go, ‘Okay, I made my opinion.’ It’s scary. But I haven’t thought about it coming after me. I’ve thought about what it probably is like for — I thought [about] what it’s like for that kid that’s 13 or 14 playing guitar and wanting to be in a band. What’s he gonna do? He can’t wait to be in a band and get canceled.”
As for his his feelings on Marilyn Manson being “canceled,” Wednesday 13 said: “Again, it’s one of those kind of things. It’s the same thing, where it was, all right, [these are] the accusations, and everybody is, ‘Okay, well, he’s a monster, so let’s step on the spider; let’s kill the monster.’ And I guess that’s probably the first reaction to that kind of thing. But they’re all accusations, and I say it’s innocent till proven guilty.
“Manson has been a close friend of mine for years,” he continued. “I don’t know of him to be any of the stuff that I’ve read. So, I don’t know, man. It fucking sucks.”
Wednesday 13 also referenced Dee Snider‘s recent comment that the “cancel culture” is a form of censorship, and that we live in a politically correct world where “we have to be careful about what we say and who we offend.”
“It is — it is a form of censorship, and it’s dangerous,” Wednesday 13 said. “It’s people seeing, ‘Oh, wait. This guy can get canceled. Let’s cancel this guy. Let’s cancel this guy.’ If you start canceling everybody for something bad they did, there’s gonna be nobody left.”
In February, the 52-year-old Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, released a statement denying the abuse allegations leveled against him, writing on Instagram: “Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how — and why — others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.”
According to Metro, cancel culture is a form of online boycott in which a person who has shared a controversial viewpoint, or is in the past found to have behaved in a way which is perceived to be offensive, is called out for that behavior, leading to them being “canceled.”
“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling was said to be “canceled” for expressing opinions that were seen as transphobic, while actress Gina Carano was fired from “The Mandalorian” show for comparing being conservative today to being Jewish in Nazi Germany on social media.
