When Marilyn Manson Put a Gun to Her Head Her She Thought, ‘Am I Going to Die?’

When Evan Rachel Wood named her abuser on Monday morning as singer Marilyn Manson, it came as no surprise to some. In recent years, Wood has become a champion for domestic violence survivors and gave chilling testimony before Congress about how her abuser groomed, raped, threatened, and brainwashed her. Although she never publicly disclosed who the man was, it was widely speculated she was referring to Manson (real name: Brian Warner).

The ramifications for Warner came swiftly. By the afternoon he was dropped from his record label, Loma Vista, which cited the “disturbing allegations” made by the Westworld actress and four other women who came forward in solidarity with similar claims. The label also announced that it would cease to promote his new album.

Additionally, his feature in the upcoming horror anthology series Creepshow was cut, a source at AMC Networks told Vanity Fair, and Starz said he’d be removed from an episode of American Gods that was set to be released later in the season. On Tuesday, Manson was dropped by his agency CAA, Variety reported.

California state Senator Susan Rubio demanded that Warner be investigated, saying, “If law enforcement does not do that, we will not only fail these victims but future possible victims of the alleged perpetrator. We must not let that happen.” Rubio’s letter was dated Jan. 21, but it is not clear when she was made aware that Wood and the other women were about to publicly name Warner.

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Marlow Stern

But for some, the current repercussions are too little, too late.

Warner has been accused of sexual misconduct in the past, but no criminal charges have stuck. In 2018, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to pursue charges of sexual assault stemming from an incident in 2011.

In 2001, he was charged with sexual assault for rubbing his crotch on a security guard's head at a concert in Michigan. But the charge was later reduced to disorderly conduct, and Warner paid a $4,000 fine. A related civil suit was settled out of court.

Warner even has a history of talking about his violent fantasies, telling Spin in 2009 that his song “I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies” was about Wood and that he thought “every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer.”

Singer Cecilia Victoria Della Peruti, best known by her stage name Gothic Tropic, was close friends with Wood while she was dating Warner and said she was there at the height of the alleged abuse.

While she didn’t wish to divulge what she witnessed during that time period, saying she’d let Wood’s statement speak for itself, she pointed the finger at the music industry as a whole for letting Warner operate unchecked for years due to his star power.

“He employs psychological abuse to avoid accountability, and also financial abuse,” she said in a text message to The Daily Beast. “Lots of folks around him were no doubt morally conflicted, but he was threatening and wielded his power and influence.”

“So many major entities have glazed over decades of accusations against him and are only now withdrawing support; an empty and performative gesture. It’s clear the issue is in the systematic enabling that happens in entertainment. Throw the whole thing out,” she added.

Encouraged by the other women coming forward, visual filmmaker Love Bailey told The Daily Beast how she visited Warner’s home to style a photoshoot with him and a Hollywood actress in 2011. Love Bailey also posted about this incident on Instagram and on Facebook in 2017 and has told friends throughout the years about the encounter.

Arriving at his home, Bailey was told Warner and the actress were “finishing up” in a separate room. When she was allowed to go inside to dress the actress, she claimed that the actress was in a disoriented state and stumbling around the room, leading Bailey to believe she had been drugged. “I had to crawl over stained sheets to get to her and as I did so he put a big Glock to my forehead,” Love Bailey said.

“I remember thinking, oh my god, am I going to die? I felt powerless, I felt stunned and I was shocked. I was in this state where I was asking myself, isn’t he too famous to kill me? I remember all these thoughts flashing through my head, and here I was, this young 20-year-old stylist just trying to get the job done and I was met with a Glock.”

As Manson pulled the trigger, he let out a laugh and said, “I don’t like f----ts,” Love Bailey said. She believes it was a way for Warner to “scare me into submission, so I wouldn’t talk,” explained Bailey, who is trans.

Love Bailey said, in a blur, she quickly grabbed her things and left. “I was just afraid for my life at that point,” she said. “I didn’t say anything after that because the fashion industry is so small. If you say something, then the photographer will blacklist you and you lose your career.”

Now, Love Bailey said she’s getting in contact with California state senator Rubio about her story and is eager to see Warner held accountable not only for her experience but for all women who allegedly suffered from his abuse.

“I think these victims need reparations,” she said. “I think these victims, including myself, have suffered post-traumatic stress from these incidents and he needs to offer reparations for the abuse. He needs to offer reparations for their medical bills, their psychology bills, their therapists, whatever.

“There’s a scar on my life from that instant. He took a part of my innocence. He needs to be set as an example that men in the industry cannot get away with this and people shouldn’t glorify people like this.”

“There are a million talented people out there. Why is it these men that we glorify? Why is it these men that we give the power over us?”

Peruti also encouraged the women who came forward to explore the option of pressing charges against Warner and hopes “the industry changes for real and finds some courage and stops enabling maniacs and starts focusing on the assailant rather than the victims.”

On Monday night, Warner denied the accusations against him in an Instagram post. “Obviously my art and life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,” he said. “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.”

Shortly before Warner finally addressed the accusations, two more women seemed to join the chorus of accusers, with several of the women sharing the new statements on their Instagram pages.

Actress Rose McGowan, who dated Warner for two years before they split in 2001, chimed in to voice her support. “I stand with Evan Rachel Wood and other brave women who have come forward,” she wrote on Twitter. “It takes years to recover from abuse and I send them strength on their journey to recovery. Let the truth be revealed. Let the healing begin.”