Marilyn Manson on ongoing sexual misconduct allegations: “You should say it to the police and not the press”
Rose McGowan was among the names mentioned in the New York Times report which first broke the Harvey Weinstein scandal that led to the ongoing movement to purge men who’ve been accused of sexual misconduct from Hollywood. The actress has kept the fight going by becoming a leading figure in the successful #MeToo movement. To hear her ex-fiancé Marilyn Manson tell it, however, making public one’s allegations are doing more harm than good.
During a recent interview with UK’s Channel 4 News, the shock rocker was asked about his former romantic partner and expressed concern about how the ongoing movement could “turn the whole world’s attention from the artistic element of Hollywood.”
Taking a page from Morrissey, Manson stressed the distinction between “serious” and “not serious” allegations. “When someone starts complaining about something that happened that seems a little bit not as serious as really sexual assault, I think it’s insulting to people that have been sexually assaulted,” he said. “It pisses me off that when someone says, ‘Someone gave me an inappropriate gift.’ That’s not the same as being harmed.”
And if the allegations do warrant action? “I just think that if you have something to say you should say it to the police and not the press,” Manson stated. “The things that happened to me growing up as a kid is nothing that I’m going to talk about or complain about… I’m guilty as charged when it comes to writing a book and talking about my childhood but I’m not trying to make it into a crazy thing where I can’t turn on my phone every day without someone being accused of something now.”
“I think the world needs to balance itself out with what’s a proper way of dealing with this type of situation,” he added. “I disagree with the entire snowball effect that’s happened with it that it could really ruin a lot of people’s lives that don’t need to be ruined.”
Watch the interview below. Manson’s response to the question about McGowan begins around the 31:00 mark.
