Marilyn Manson has had “quite a transformation” since being accused of abuse, the director of a new documentary on the shock rocker’s sex scandal has declared.
The singer, 56, was hit by a string of allegations from 2021, when his actress ex- partner Evan Rachel Wood, 37, alleged he subjected her to grooming, abuse and manipulation – sparking a series of other accusations against the musician from other women.
They are now being explored in filmmaker Karen McGann’s three-part Channel 4 docuseries ‘Marilyn Manson: Unmasked’, with a press release for the show stating it will “unravel the shocking story of one of rock music’s most polarising figures”, including “the chilling abuse allegations that have engulfed his career”.
Karen has now told the NME about Marilyn’s life after the allegations: “It should be said that he’s had quite a transformation, by all accounts, in the last few years.
“He is apparently sober now and that is a change.
“So I think there is a lot in his life that he feels he can put into his music. I was curious about Manson at the start of the process of making this film.
“I wasn’t a fan of his music, but I didn’t dislike it. I found him fascinating as a cultural figure and that still stands. He has a right, as an artist, to make his music.”
When asked if she was surprised Marilyn – real name Brian Warner – is soon start a sold-out European tour, she added: “No, because of that messianic devotion that he was able to leverage from the beginning.
“In people’s teenage years, (they develop) their sense of themselves.
“We invest in the artist we love and there’s a huge constituency of people who feel like he speaks for them and he will be deeply connected to things that they went through.
“For them, his music means something, so it doesn’t surprise me that there is an audience who are willing to pay to see him.”
In 2022, Evan Rachel Wood she also claimed Marilyn “essentially raped” her “on-camera” when they filmed the music video for his 2007 song ‘Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)’.
Among the other women who levelled abuse allegations against Marilyn were ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Esme Bianco, 42, who filed a lawsuit alleging sexual assault, physical abuse and human trafficking.
He denied all the allegations against him, dismissing them as “horrible distortions of reality”.
Marilyn countersued Evan for defamation and emotional distress but later agreed to pay her $327,000 in legal fees.
He also reached an out-of-court settlement with Esme in 2023.