Currently, musician
Marilyn Manson is facing multiple allegations of abuse, most notably by actress Evan Rachel Wood, who alleges that Manson “started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years.” Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, has categorically denied these claims as “malicious falsehoods”, claiming that
he is a victim of a coordinated defamation attempt in a suit. “Wood [has] secretly recruited, coordinated, and pressured prospective accusers to emerge simultaneously with allegations of rape and abuse against Warner, and brazenly claim that it took 10 or more years to ‘realize’ their consensual relationships with Warner were supposedly abusive.” Of the numerous suits by alleged survivors of Manson that have been filed in the last several years, one survivor has recanted, and several have been dismissed due to statute of limitations; Esme Bianco’s sexual assault suit, whose allegations Manson’s lawyer claimed were “provably false” and merely “outrageous financial demands based on conduct that simply never occurred,” resulted in a
settlement that Bianco confirmed she agreed to “in order to move on with her life and career.” Despite the allegations, Manson continues to be visible in the public eye, with open support from artists such as
Kat Von D and invitations to collaborate on
Ye’s Donda album (prior to Ye’s persona non grata status in Hollywood). These cases prove that, across the board, there is minimal upside — financial, social, or otherwise — in publicly acknowledging your abuser. Instead, you are left with high risk of public recrimination, and little support in the fallout as your claims and safety take a backseat to a propulsive entertainment industry and an overwhelming news cycle, eager to move on to the next scandal.