Marilyn Manson Responds To Evan Rachel Wood's Rape Allegations

Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood (Alamy)

Marilyn Manson has responded to Evan Rachel Wood's allegations that he 'essentially raped' her.

Phoenix Rising is a new two-part documentary that chronicles Wood's upbringing, looking at her rise to fame as Hollywood's 'troubled teen' actor, as well as her relationship with Manson between 2006 and 2011.

In the film, the actor, who was 20 at the time of the alleged incident, said she was given absinthe on the set of the video for the rockstar's 2007 release Heart-Shaped Glasses.

During the shoot, Wood was styled to look like a character from the 1962 Stanley Kubrick film Lolita, which is based on Nabokov's 1955 novel about a middle-aged professor who becomes infatuated with an underage girl.

Evan Rachel Wood claims Marilyn Manson 'essentially raped' her. (Alamy)

According to Wood, the scene involved simulated sex, with fake blood raining down on the the pair. However, she alleges Manson, real name Brian Warner, who was 38 at the time, 'started penetrating me for real'.

Following the claims, Manson's lawyer Howard King told The Independent this was not the case, calling the allegations 'imaginative' and 'brazen'.

In a statement, 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.

Marilyn Manson has denied any wrongdoing. (Alamy)

'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,' he added.

In the documentary, which was premiered at Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, January 23, Wood says she didn't feel safe during the shoot, or that anyone was looking out for her.

The actor says the alleged assault left her 'traumatised' and feeling 'ashamed'. 'It’s nothing like I thought it was going to be. We’re doing things that were not what was pitched to me,' Wood said.

Evan Rachel Wood and Marilyn Manson, who started dating over 15 years ago. (Alamy)

'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 … It was complete chaos.

'I did not feel safe. No one was looking after me. It was a really traumatising experience filming the video. I felt disgusting and that I had done something shameful, and I could tell that the crew was uncomfortable, and nobody knew what to do,' she said.

Wood added: 'That’s when the first crime was committed against me. I was essentially raped on camera.'

Phoenix Rising currently doesn't have a release date, but it's expected to premiere on HBO later this year.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivor’s Trust for free on 08088 010 818, or through their website thesurvivorstrust.org 

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