Evan Rachel Wood has described what she called Marilyn Manson’s odd bedroom behaviors. She spoke in an interview with Mariana van Zeller. Wood discussed the physical and psychological abuse she says she experienced during their relationship.
Wood’s comments focused on how she characterized Manson’s personality and private behavior. She said it did not match what many people assumed.
“He feels certainly malignant narcissist, maybe psychopath to me, you know, might have always been there,” Wood said. “I don’t know. And you know what’s really interesting too is like people say like, ‘Oh, what did she expect? These Marilyn Mans of course he’s going to be into kinky stuff.’ He was not. He’s very very vanilla and reserved in bed.”
She then described the intimate side of the relationship in more detail.
“It was very transactional,” Wood said. “It was very little effort on his part. He was not into anything kinky. It was just you were a vessel for you were a means to an end. And no, he wasn’t into any of that stuff. So, it was twice as shocking when something really violent or really demeaning or violating would happen because that is not how it was at home, you know?”
Wood also recalled a conversation with Manson about his reluctance to be seen naked.
“Like he didn’t even like you to see him naked,” she said. “He would always cover himself up. Like he was very shy and really and I mentioned it to him once. I was kind of like, you know, ‘You always cover yourself up. We’ve been together for a few years and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you naked.’ And he never even thought about it. He was like, ‘I’ve never really thought about that or why.’”
She ended by saying he did not seem aware of the behavior.
“He wasn’t even aware of it, but it was odd,” Wood said. “Like that kind of odd behavior, right? So his behavior was odd but not in the way that people would expect.”
These remarks are Wood’s account of her relationship with Manson, as shared in the interview.
Her latest comments add to a story that Wood has told publicly for several years. That story reached a wide audience through a major documentary. Legal action and official scrutiny followed.
HBO’s two-part documentary Phoenix Rising follows Wood as she describes surviving domestic abuse. She publicly names Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, as her abuser. The film shows her pursuing legislative change. It also recounts her relationship with him, which began in 2006 when she was a teenager.
The project presents her story as an effort to “pursue justice, heal generational wounds and reclaim her story.”
The documentary also shows that Wood is not the only woman who has made allegations against Manson. At least 15 women have accused him of abuse. Manson has consistently denied abusing Wood or anyone else.
The allegations have not led to criminal charges. Investigators met with Wood, but no charges were filed against Manson.
Manson also responded to the allegations with a legal move of his own. He sued Wood for defamation. That lawsuit was later dismissed after a long stretch of litigation.
