Evan Rachel Wood Says Marilyn Manson ‘Essentially Raped’ Her in Music Video

Evan Rachel Wood is opening up about the abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of ex Marilyn Manson in a new documentary coming to HBO in March. During the premiere of Phoenix Rising Part 1 at the Sundance Film Festival Sunday, the Westworld actress shared some of the more disturbing moments from her relationship with Manson, born Brian Warner, from 2006 to 2011. 

Wood alleged that Manson’s “first crime” against her took place while filming the 2007 music video for “Heart-Shaped Glasses.” “It’s nothing like I thought it was going to be,” Wood said of the music video, filmed when she was 19. “We’re doing things that were not what was pitched to me. … We had discussed a simulated sex scene, but once the cameras were rolling, he started penetrating me for real. I had never agreed to that. I’m a professional actress, I’ve been doing this my whole life; I’ve never been on a set that unprofessional in my life up until this day.”

The incident was “complete chaos,” she continued. “I did not feel safe. No one was looking after me. It was a really traumatizing experience filming the video. I didn’t know how to advocate for myself or know how to say no because I had been conditioned and trained to never talk back, to just soldier through.”

After filming, Wood said she “felt disgusting” as if she had done “something shameful,” and could tell the crew was “very uncomfortable” and unsure of what to do. “I was coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretenses,” she continued. “That’s when the first crime was committed against me. I was essentially raped on camera.”

Wood first opened up about her experience being sexually assaulted by a significant other in 2016 as part of her advocacy for survivors of sexual assault. In February 2021, she came forward to name Manson as her alleged abuser. Manson has yet to respond specifically to Wood’s accusations in the documentary, but previously denied her claims of abuse last year.

At least 14 other women have accused Manson of sexual assault, and the musician is facing three lawsuits as a result. Manson’s ex-girlfriend Ashley Morgan Smithline and Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco are among his accusers. Mason has called the allegations of sexual assault “horrible distortions of reality,” saying his relationships have “always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners.”