Marilyn Manson will not be facing any charges after a years-long investigation into sexual assault and domestic abuse allegations, prosecutors have confirmed.
According to the Associated Press, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman explained that the allegations were outside the statute of limitations and that there was insufficient evidence against Manson.
“We have determined that allegations of domestic violence fall outside of the statute of limitations, and we cannot prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt,” stated Hochman.
He added: “We recognize and applaud the courage and resilience of the women who came forward to make reports and share their experiences, and we thank them for their cooperation and patience with the investigation.”
In 2021, the shock rock artist’s former partner, the actor Evan Rachel Wood, accused Manson – real name Brian Warner – of grooming, abuse and manipulation. In 2022, she also claimed that Warner “essentially raped” her “on-camera” when they filmed the music video for his 2007 song ‘Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)’.
After Wood’s initial statement, a number of other women made allegations against the musician. These included Game Of Thrones actor Esme Bianco, who filed a lawsuit alleging sexual assault, physical abuse and human trafficking.
Warner strongly denied the allegations, which he described as “horrible distortions of reality”. The singer countersued Wood for defamation and emotional distress. He dropped the lawsuit last November and agreed to pay her $327,000 in attorney fees. Warner and Bianco reached an out-of-court settlement in January 2023.
Last year, Bianco hit out at Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón over what she described as the “mishandled” rape allegations against Warner.
She said the last four years of waiting for the prosecutor to make a decision over the allegations was “absolute agony”, adding that she has had to “hound” the District Attorney’s office for updates. In October 2024, Gascón revealed that their investigations into the musician were under review by the office’s Sex Crimes Division.
Manson has not yet commented on the allegations against him. However, Bianco said she was “deeply disappointed” but not surprised as to the outcome of the investigation.
“Within our toxic culture of victim blaming; a lack of understanding of coercive control, the complex nature of sexual assault within intimate partnerships, and statutes of limitations that do not support the realities of healing; prosecutions face an oftentimes insurmountable hurdle,” Bianco wrote on Instagram. “Once again, our justice system has failed survivors.”
She added that the blame lay not with the prosecutors or detectives in the case who failed, but “the system that made them do so with one hand tied behind their collective facts.”
The news comes just a week after the premiere of a new docuseries, Marilyn Manson: Unmasked, which explored the musician’s rise to fame and allegations of abuse against him. Wood appears in the documentary alongside alleged victim Bianca Allaine Kyne (who claims Warner subjected her to abuse, claims which he has denied)
NME spoke to the docuseries’ director, Karen McGann, who remarked that the pendulum of public support has swung back against those who bring claims of abuse, as Wood suggests.
“I think it’s still really, really hard to be someone with allegations who comes out. They are still treated with a degree of suspicion – especially if they make allegations against a more powerful figure who has money or celebrity,” she said. There was a moment post-#MeToo where it felt like there was this opening, but it’s not come to fruition in the way that people might have hoped it would. I don’t think it’s given people the support and safety net that they might need.”
After the allegations, Manson was dropped by his label Loma Vista, his manager and his booking agent. He later signed to Nuclear Blast and released a new album, ‘One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1′. He is soon to begin a supporting world tour.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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