Nine Inch Nails founder Trent Reznor has denounced Marilyn Manson in a newly released statement in which he also reiterates his “dislike” for the disgraced shock-rock musician. In his statement, published by Pitchfork, Reznor said, “I have been vocal over the years about my dislike of Manson as a person and cut ties with him nearly 25 years ago. As I said at the time, the passage from Manson’s memoir is a complete fabrication. I was infuriated and offended back when it came out and remain so today.”
The passage that Reznor is referring to is a story in Manson’s autobiography, The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, wherein he recounted a story of him and Reznor allegedly sexually assaulting an inebriated woman. The incident would have taken place sometime in the ’90s, though Reznor is adamant that it did not happen, as his aforementioned statement details. The pair had seemingly been close many years ago, with Reznor signing Manson’s band to his Nothing Records label in the early ’90s and then producing their 1994 debut album Portrait of an American Family.
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The two also worked together on NIN’s “Starf—ers, Inc.” music video in 2000, which was only around two decades ago. Manson co-directed and appeared in the video. This possibly contradicts Reznor’s timeline he expresses in his new statement, claiming that he cut ties with Manson “nearly 25 years ago.” During a 2017 interview with Howard Stern, Manson claimed that the song was actually about him and that Reznor had written it after the two had a heated exchange, which caused them to go their separate ways for a period of time. Still, they had reportedly rekindled their friendship ahead of the video shoot.
Reznor’s statement comes after Manson’s ex-fiance, actress Evan Rachel Wood, came forward and named Manson as her abuser, after having alluded to it publicly. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years,” she said in a statement. “I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission.”
Wood continued, “I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.” Manson has denied the allegations.
Reznor is not the only musician to come forward in support of Wood and other women who also claimed Manson abused them. Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, who played with Manson for a period of time, stated during a Twitch stream that he was there “at his house” when Manson “was with Evan Rachel Wood,” and that what he witnessed was “not f—ing cool.” Borland added, per, LoudWire, “Sorry to take this to a dark place, but that guy is canceled, goodbye, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
