Evan Rachel Wood came forward last week to name ex-partner Marilyn Manson as her alleged abuser and groomer (after years of her advocacy and testimony in front of lawmakers to help pass survivor-geared laws). In the immediate aftermath of Wood’s statement, four other women lodged allegations of abuse agains Manson. Phoebe Bridgers then followed with a sickening story while former Manson collaborator Trent Reznor issued his own statement of condemnation. and Wood has made more revelations about threats that she received (apparently from parties associated with Manson) that prompted her to come forward.
Now, 1980s teen idol Corey Feldman is giving his own account in an Instagram post, in which he accuses Manson of emotionally abusing him for decades. Feldman’s claims include grooming and being kissed without consent, and he makes reference to passages that Manson wrote about him in his 1998 memoir, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, as evidence that Manson is “obsessed” with Feldman.
“Manson has been obsessed w me 4 over 2 decades!” wrote Feldman in part. “Dont #BELIEVE me? Just LOOK @ THE PUBLISHED FACTS! He 1st wrote several passages about me in his book #LONGROADOUTOFHELL as we had met a few months prior 2 that @ a Premier 4 #HOWARDSTERNSPRIVATEPARTS IN NY where the #GROOMING process began. He grabbed my face in front of the crowd and kissed me w his Black Lip Stick that I couldn’t rub off all night. He proceeded 2 gush over me telling me what a ‘Huge fan’ of mine he was.”
While speaking in 1999 to the Dallas Observer of Feldman, Manson stated that he felt “genuinely excited” about meeting former child stars that he’s “always genuinely respected and admired,” but “I think Corey Feldman got a little bitter because of my sense of humor. If you can’t laugh at yourself, who are you gonna laugh at? Especially when you’re Corey Feldman. You’ve got nothing else to do but laugh at yourself.”
The allegations against Manson made by Wood have, thus far, led his his agency (CAA) and his record label (Loma Vista Recordings) to drop him from their rosters. Two TV shows (AMC’s Creepshow anthology series and Starz’s ongoing American Gods) that filmed appearances by Manson also followed suit, and a California State Senator has asked the FBI to investigate the “alleged cases” against the singer.
For his part, Manson followed Wood’s initial statement with a statement of his own to deny any wrongdoing. “Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,” he wrote. “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.”
