“I met Marilyn backstage at a festival a few years ago. After his compliments towards my band became more and more hyperbolic I became suspicious of his behaviour. I was shocked to look down and see he was filming up my skirt with a gopro,” she wrote.
“There were no repercussions for his behaviour,” she continued, adding that a member of his tour staff said, “‘he does this kind of thing all the time.'”
“If he does this kind of thing all the time why on earth has he been headlining festivals for so many years?” she asked. “When will we stop enabling misogynists on the account of their success? Women must feel safe in the male dominated world that is the music industry.”
“I wasn’t sure whether to bring any of this up but Manson claims in his recent statement that his relationships were ‘entirely consensual’ – I don’t think he knows the meaning of consent if he goes around up-skirting young women at festivals. Thank you for your courage Evan,” said Rowsell.
Billboard made earlier attempts to reach Manson for comment through his now former management, but has not received any responses.
Wood named Manson, her ex-fiancée, as an alleged abuser in an Instagram post. Wood claimed the shock rocker had “horrifically abused” her for years, beginning when she was a teenager.
After she spoke out, other women also went public with claims of physical and psychological abuse against Manson; Wood shared some of their statements in her Instagram stories.
Manson denied the sexual abuse allegations in his own statement 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,” he wrote. “My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how – and why – others are now choosing to misinterpret the past, that is the truth.”
Manson has since been dropped by Loma Vista Recordings — his record label — as well as CAA. Longtime manager Tony Cuilla has also reportedly cut ties with him.
After Wood spoke out about the alleged abuse, indie rock musician Phoebe Bridgers recalled an experience going to Manson’s house when she was a teenager and hearing him refer to a room as the “r*pe room.” Bridgers also alleged that “the label knew, management knew, the band knew” in a second tweet, but did not specify names or details of what they were aware of. “Distancing themselves now, pretending to be shocked and horrified is f—ing pathetic,” she added.
Read Rowsell’s story that she shared on Twitter below.
