Marilyn Manson’s ex Rose McGowan speaks about abuse allegations

Rose McGowan was engaged to Marilyn Manson for two years. Now she’s speaking out as the rocker faces multiple abuse allegations.

Marilyn Manson’s ex-girlfriend Rose McGowan has spoken out about the abuse allegations against him, throwing her support behind his accusers and giving insight into her relationship with the controversial glam rocker.

McGowan was engaged to Manson for two years, before the pair separated in 2001. Manson went on to date actress Evan Rachel Wood, 19 years his junior, in 2007. The two then got engaged in 2010, but ended their relationship seven months later.

Manson and Wood in 2007. Picture: GETTY

McGowan has been an impassioned campaigner against sexual misconduct. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Wood this week named Manson as her alleged abuser, after previously speaking about an unnamed attacker she had been in an abusive relationship with.

This week she claimed he started “grooming” her when she was a teenager and “horrifically abused” her for years – claims Manson has strenuously denied.

McGowan, who has become a leading figure in the #MeToo movement in recent years, weighed in on the developing story via her Instagram.

Rose McGowan speaks out about Marilyn Manson.

Speaking on camera, McGowan stated she was “proud” of Wood and other women who had come forward. “When he was with me, he was not like that,” she said.

“But that has no bearing on whether he was like that with others, before or after. It takes time to come forward and, again, I am proud – proud of these women and anybody who stands against an abuser.”

McGowan went into more detail in the caption to her post.

“My statement: I am profoundly sorry to those who have suffered the abuse & mental torture of Marilyn Manson. When I say Hollywood is a cult, I mean the Entertainment industry including the music industry is a cult. Cult’s (sic) protect the rot at the top. Theirs is a sickness that must be stopped. The industrial fame complex chooses who they protect & who they’ll let be their victims. For profit,” she wrote.

“I stand with Evan Rachel Wood and all of those who have or will come forward. And please don’t pull out the ‘why did they take so much time to come forward?’ question that shames victims/survivors, it’s what stops others from coming forward. And to all of those who have covered for monsters, shame on you. Rise and say no more.”

Marilyn Manson and Rose McGowan during their headline-grabbing 1998 MTV Awards appearance. Picture: Getty

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The fallout from Wood naming Manson as her alleged abuser has been swift, with Manson’s record company Loma Vista immediately dropping him from their books.

The record label stated they would immediately cease promotion for Manson’s latest album, released in September last year, and “have also decided not to work with Marilyn Manson on any future projects.”

Manson released a statement via his Instagram slamming the allegations as “horrible distortions”.

“Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,” he wrote. “My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how – and why – others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.”

Manson has been dropped by his record company. Picture: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP

In a new interview with Daily Mail, ex-porn star Jenna Jameson opened up about her affair with Manson, which happened in the late ’90s while she was married to fellow porn star Brad Armstrong.

“We didn’t go out long because I cut it off after he would nonchalantly say he fantasised about burning me alive,” she claimed.

“Once he started speaking to me violently, I was like … goodbye Brian. Also the bruises from him biting me weren’t fun.”