Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch has weighed in on the sexual and emotional abuse allegations that recently came to light against Marilyn Manson.
On February 1st Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld actress and former fiancée of Manson, released a statement identifying the musician as the man who allegedly abused her. The statement prompted several other women to come forward, detailing accounts of harrowing abuse they allegedly experienced at the hands of Manson.
During a recent interview with NME, Head ruminated on witnessing Evan Rachel Wood address US Congress in 2018, a session that saw her delve into her experience surviving sexual assault during a campaign for the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights Acts. She did not identify Manson as her alleged abuser at the time.
“She had real pain when she talked about it,” Welch said. “That is some real trauma that she had.”
Welch went on to acknowledge the comments that Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland made about Wood and her relationship with Manson.
Wes Borland, who briefly played the guitar for Marilyn Manson in 2008 on his The Color of Violence record, appeared on a Twitch stream with Space Zebra to discuss the allegations earlier this month.
“Marilyn Manson. I was in the band for nine months. He’s not a great guy,” Borland revealed. “Every single thing that people have said about him is fucking true.”
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He continued, “So relax about the allegations towards the women. When people say these women that are coming after him right now… fuck off, they are speaking the truth.
“That guy, he’s amazingly talented, but he’s fucked up and he needs to be put in check and he needs to get sober and he needs to come to terms with his demons. He is a bad fucking guy.”
Borland went on to detail that he witnessed Manson and Evan Rachel Wood’s relationship first hand.
“I was there when he was with Evan Rachel Wood, I was at his house, it’s not fucking cool,” Borland continued. “That’s all I’m gonna say about it. If anyone is coming after these girls and going like, ‘You blah blah blah, this and that,’ fuck you, that’s all I’m gonna say. Sorry to take this to a dark place, but that guy is canceled, goodbye, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
On Wes Borland’s comments, Welch mused: “Hearing Wes Borland talk about that and how he saw some crazy things when Evan and Manson were together, that’s crazy.”
He continued, “I feel for her because I see true pain in her voice when she speaks and I just hope that, if it’s true, Manson can own up to it and get help.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Welch went on to reckon with his own experience being the abusive party in an intimate relationship. “I’m very vocal about how I screwed up,” he acknowledged. “I was in an abusive relationship, I wrote all about it in my book so owning up to your stuff and dating your demons and becoming a better person – even Marilyn Manson can do that.
“People say he’s evil or whatnot, and I like how Wes Borland ended his conversation where he said there’s obviously a massively cancel culture out there, but there is redemption for people that do horrible things. If Manson did some of this stuff, he just needs to get help like everybody else and I wish the best for him and Evan Rachel Wood and I hope that the world grows from this and becomes a better place.”
