CONTENT WARNING: The following article discusses sexual harassment and assault.
Marilyn Manson has weighed in on the current sexual misconduct saga sweeping the entertainment industry, sharing some strong opinions.
When quizzed about the current storm of allegations against music & film stars — including those made by dozens of women, including his ex Rose McGowan, against heavyweight producer Harvey Weinstein — the shock rocker says he’s “not surprised by it”.
“I didn’t really know much about it when I was with her,” Manson clarifies to Channel 4 (via NME), regarding McGowan’s claims that Weinstein raped her and then had her blacklisted from Hollywood.
“I just think, I don’t want it to turn the whole world’s attention from the artistic element of Hollywood and movies and films to be ruined by this.
“I’m a very vengeful person, I’m very protective of loved ones, especially in relationships,” he continues. “But I never really… that wasn’t part of our relationship in the past.
“I don’t want to see it turn Hollywood into something that takes away from films being made – that’s not to disrespect the people making the allegations.”
Manson goes on to say that victims who have something to say should “say it to the police and not to the press and handle it that way first and foremost”.
“That’s what I would do,” he says.
The Pale Emperor also added that, while he doesn’t disagree with how McGowan is handling her situation, he is concerned by the “snowball effect” that less “serious allegations” are having on men in the industry.
“There’s serious allegations — and they’re always allegations of course — but when someone starts complaining about something that happened that seems a little bit not as serious as really sexual assault, I think that’s insulting to people that have been sexually assaulted.
“It pisses me off that when someone says, ‘Someone gave me an inappropriate gift’ or something. That’s not the same as being harmed.
“It makes you feel like you can’t even say… go and meet her [motions off camera] and say, I might look at her the wrong way and be accused of something wrong,” he continues.
“I think the world needs to balance itself out with what’s the proper way of dealing with this type of situation.
“You’re speaking about my ex-fiancée – I don’t disagree with how she’s handling it. I just disagree with the entire snowball effect that’s happened that could ruin a lot of people’s lives that don’t need to be ruined.”
It comes after Manson parted ways with his longtime bassist Twiggy Ramirez in the wake of rape allegations against him.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Australian female music professionals recently launched the #meNOmore campaign in response to the current sexual misconduct purge, writing a letter addressed to the entire Australian music industry to demand change, detailing hundreds of individual stories of sexual misconduct and harassment suffered throughout the course of their professional careers, ranging from “the tragic, to the horrific, to the every-day norm”.
Watch Manson’s full interview below.
If you or anyone you know needs help or information regarding mental health, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.
If you need assistance, 1800 RESPECT – the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service — can be reached on 1800 737 732.
