Warning: This article discusses sexual assault and abuse and may be distressing for some readers.
Evan Rachel Wood has claimed she was "essentially raped" by Marilyn Manson "on-camera" while filming the video for the musician's song 'Heart-Shaped Glasses'.
Appearing in the new documentary Phoenix Rising, Wood said she was fed absinthe to the point of being barely conscious as a 19-year-old while on set.
The infamous video features Manson and Wood - wearing Lolita-style sunglasses - entangled in a sexual act while fake blood rains down on them. Wood said what happened while filming was far from the "simulated sex scene" that had been discussed.
"It's nothing like I thought it was going to be," Wood says in the documentary, per Rolling Stone.
"We're doing things that were not what was pitched to me. We had discussed a simulated sex scene, but once the cameras were rolling, he started penetrating me for real.
"I had never agreed to that... it was complete chaos. I did not feel safe. No one was looking after me."
Wood, who first accused her former partner Manson of "horrific abuse" in a 2021 Instagram post, said the experience was "really traumatising".
"I didn't know how to advocate for myself or know how to say no because I had been conditioned and trained to never talk back - to just soldier through.
"I felt disgusting and that I had done something shameful, and I could tell that the crew was uncomfortable and nobody knew what to do."
Wood alleged she was "coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretences", calling it "the first crime that was committed against her".
"I was essentially raped on-camera."
The Westworld star added that Manson was insistent about how Wood should talk about the video in promotional interviews.
"I was supposed to tell people we had this great, romantic time and none of that was the truth," she said.
"But I was scared to do anything that would upset [Manson] in any way. The video was just the beginning of the violence that would keep escalating over the course of the relationship."
Manson, who remains the subject of multiple sexual assault lawsuits, was dropped by his record label Loma Vista records when Wood accused him of "grooming her" when she was a teenager and "horrifically abusing her for years". Several more women came forward claiming they had suffered physical and psychological torture at Manson's hands.
The 'Antichrist Superstar' hitmaker categorically denied any wrongdoing in a statement released shortly afterwards, calling Wood's claims "horrible distortions of reality" and insisting: "My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners."
Where to find help and support:
- Shine (domestic violence) - 0508 744 633
- Women's Refuge - 0800 733 843 (0800 REFUGE)
- Need to Talk? - Call or text 1737
- What's Up - 0800 WHATS UP (0800 942 8787)
- Lifeline - 0800 543 354 or (09) 5222 999 within Auckland
- Youthline - 0800 376 633, text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat
- Samaritans - 0800 726 666
- Depression Helpline - 0800 111 757
- Suicide Crisis Helpline - 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
- Shakti Community Council - 0800 742 584
