There’s nothing especially surprising about the fact that Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson are buddies and collaborators: Both men have, after all, based a large part of their careers on blending some actual talent with a borderline-pathological devotion to freaking out the squares. The two have even worked together on some songs and music videos, with Depp slathering himself in pancake makeup to writhe around and play “Pass the crown of thorns” in support of Manson’s recent “SAY10.” (Get it? Like Satan? It’s a fun devil pun!)
Now, though, it sounds like that connection might grow even deeper, with Manson posting a tweet this week suggesting that Depp—whose own musical career with Alice Cooper and the scarf-covered bad boys of the Hollywood Vampires is well-documented—might sign on as a guitarist in his band.
It’s always possible that Manson was joking, of course. But this particular staffing decision does raise a few red flags, largely because Manson was recently forced to part ways with long-time guitarist/bassist Twiggy Ramirez over allegations that he’d physically and sexually abused Jessicka Addams, of the Manson-affiliated band Jack Off Jill. Given how much of the Depp-based news cycle in recent years has been focused on his divorce from Amber Heard—and her allegations of physical abuse on his part, which, while technically settled, still seem to keep coming up—it seems decidedly tone-deaf to potentially recruit one accused abuser to replace another.