Amber Heard speaks out on Marilyn Manson sexual assault allegations

Amber Heard has accused the entertainment industry of turning a blind eye to sexual assault allegations against Marilyn Manson.

Heard came out in support of Evan Rachel Woods after she and a number of other women claimed they had been sexually and physically assaulted by Manson. The musician has denied all accusations, calling them “horrible distortions of reality”.

Heard shared an article from The New Yorker that referenced old interviews with Manson.

“In a 2009 interview with Spin — after he and Wood had briefly broken up — [Manson] said that he once called Wood a hundred and fifty-eight times in a single day and that he regularly fantasises ‘about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer’,” it read.

Heard added: “And yet, no one sees the trend here? Everyone wants to tag a bathroom wall, no one wants to understand the writing. Evan and I aren’t the 1st to raise our hands.”

She concluded with a question for the world: “Are you done ignoring it?”

Heard herself is a survivor of domestic abuse. She testified in court against her ex-husband Jonny Depp, accusing him of physically abusing her during their four-year relationship.

Depp lost a libel case against The Sun in 2020 over an article labelling him as a “wife-beater”. A judge ruled “Mr Depp did assault Ms Heard as she and the defendants have alleged”. Depp continues to deny all allegations of abuse and is pursuing an appeal against the ruling.

Evan Rachel Woods first came forward with allegations against Marilyn Manson on Monday (1 February).

Having previously spoken about an unnamed abuser, she wrote on her Instagram: “The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson, he started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission.”

Like Heard, she called out the ‘industries that have enabled him”, and said she was calling him out “before he ruins any more lives”.

“I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.”

After Wood’s statement, at least nine more women have made allegations against Manson.

Ashley Walters, a photographer was one of those that came forward on her Instagram. She said: “It felt like I was his property because he would offer me up for sexual encounters to please potential collaborators or friends.

“He isolated me from my friends and family. … He frequently became violent, throwing items including glass plates and heavy objects.”

Another of the alleged victims was Love Bailey, the fashion stylist, who repeated a prior allegation that Manson held a gun to her head.

“I was in this state where I was asking myself, isn’t he too famous to kill me?” she wrote.

Marilyn Manson vehemently denies all allegations of abuse, but has been dropped by his record label in the wake of the claims.