“There’s a lot of jeopardy involved for them”: Marilyn Manson: Unmasked director applauds accusers who came forward ahead of series’ UK broadcast

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Marilyn Manson: Unmasked’s director has thanked the accusers interviewed in her new documentary.

Ahead of the three-part miniseries debuting in the UK via Channel 4 tonight (January 14), Karen McGann says interviewees including actor Evan Rachel Wood face “jeopardy” for being outspoken against their alleged abuser.

Upwards of a dozen women have accused Manson (real name Brian Warner) of abuse. He has denied all allegations. Several lawsuits against the shock rocker have been settled, but cases led by Bianca Allen Kyne and Manson’s former assistant Ashley Walter are on track to be heard in court.

Regarding Wood and Kyne, who also appears in the documentary, McGann tells NME that they’d been “burned” by backlash from diehard Manson fans on social media.

“When the original story came out, there was a huge backlash and people trolling, saying that they were Manson fans, who just went after these girls in quite a strong way,” she says.

“[The accusers had] been burned by that experience, so the idea of doing it for a documentary felt really difficult. I’m really grateful to those who decided to come on the journey with us because there’s a lot of jeopardy involved for them.”

McGann also says that Manson may have been “hiding in plain sight”, his alleged actions masked by the controversial stage persona he’d created for himself.

“Manson is a fascinating subject in that he is the architect of his own mythology,” she adds. “So there is an opinion that maybe this is just a construct and then there are others that tell you, ‘This is hiding in plain sight.’

“The guiding principle for us, when we were making the documentary, was: ‘Did he say it? Yes, he did. We’ll show it to you and then you as the audience can make up your own mind.’ I really wanted to go, ‘I’m going to present you with the different sides of this thing and you can decide what you feel we as a society should do or not do about it.’”

Wood, Manson’s ex-fiancée, was the first person to publicly accuse Manson of abuse. Manson sued her and her friend Ilma Gore for defamation, distress and “impersonation over the internet” in 2022. However, large portions of the suit were thrown out by a Los Angeles judge last year, and Manson dropped the entire case in November.

In October, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said his office were investigating new leads and evidence related to the allegations against Manson. He hoped to make a decision about making a legal filing against the singer “soon”. He added that his office were “committed to making sure [Manson’s accusers] are treated with dignity and respect”.

Despite the ongoing legal cases against him, Manson is attempting to mount a musical comeback. He released his first album in four years, One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1, in November and is set to embark on a sell-out tour of the UK and Europe next month.

Channel4 trailer for Marilyn Manson: Unmasked - YouTube

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Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.