Trent Reznor denounces Marilyn Manson
Trent Reznor has issued a new statement today, reminding readers that, although the two artists were heavily involved with each other in the 1990s—with Reznor producing or co-producing Marilyn Manson’s first major albums, Portrait Of An American Family and Antichrist Superstar—he and performer Brian “Marilyn Manson” Warner have been estranged from each other ever since: in Reznor’s words, “I cut ties with him nearly 25 years ago.” This is per Pitchfork, which notes that Reznor’s statement comes in the wake of allegations of abuse recently made against Warner by former partner Evan Rachel Wood, and, more specifically, by the subsequent resurfacing on an anecdote from Warner’s book The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, in which he alleges that he and Reznor sexually assaulted a woman together in the mid-’90s.
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.
As Reznor notes in the above statement, he denied Warner’s (extremely unpleasant and misogynistic) story at the time the book first came out back in 1998, and has aggressively denied it every time it’s come up since. The Oscar-winning composer/Nine Inch Nails founder didn’t directly address Wood’s allegations in his statement, merely noting his own long-running dislike of Warner.
Wood stepped forward with her allegations on Monday—naming Warner after years of talking about past abuses—and was quickly joined by four other women outlining patterns of physical abuse and sexual assault from the musician. In the wake of the accusations, a number of entities have cut ties with Warner and the band Marilyn Manson, including the dropping of the band from its label, Loma Vista, and the announcement that Shudder has pulled an episode of its Creepshow series