Dita Von Teese, the ex-wife of Marilyn Manson, has broken her silence on the allegations of abuse made against the musician this week.
The burlesque performer was married to the shock rocker—real name Brian Warner—between 2005 and 2006. He dated Westworld actress Evan Rachel Wood after the marriage ended, who on February 1 released a statement accusing him of “years of horrific abuse.”
Manson denies the allegations and has called the claims “horrible distortions of reality.” He has also been dropped from his record label.
Following Wood’s statement, several other women have come forward accusing Manson of similar offenses.
“I have been processing the news that broke Monday regarding Marilyn Manson,” Von Teese’s statement, released on Instagram, began. “To those who have expressed your concerns of my well-being, I appreciate your kindness.”
“Please know that the details made public do not match my personal experience during our seven years together as a couple,” she continued. “Had they, I would not have married him in December 2005. I left 12 months later due to infidelity and drug abuse.”
She added: “Abuse of any kind has no place in any relationship. I urge those of you who have incurred abuse to take steps to heal and the strength to fully realise yourself.”
Von Teese concluded: “This is my sole statement on this matter. Thank you for respecting this request.”
Before making her statement this week, some of Von Teese’s earlier interviews in which she discussed her marriage to Manson came to light.
In a 2007 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Von Teese was asked if their break up had anything to do with Wood. Although she replied “no comment” the interviewer noted that her hands were shaking.
In the same interview, she said: “Let’s just say that it must have been something pretty bad for me to move out of the house after six years together and to pack up my stuff on Christmas Eve… I felt like I’d found the man of my dreams. But sometimes things change overnight, and you have to make a choice as to whether you’re going to respect yourself and say, ‘I’m not going to accept this. This is not OK.'”
Another of Manson’s ex-fiances, Charmed star Rose McGowan, released a video in which she addressed the abuse allegations made by Wood and the four other women.
“I am profoundly sad today and disgusted,” she said. “But I am mostly proud. Proud of Evan Rachel Wood and the others who have come forward against Marilyn Manson, my ex.”
As well as being dropped from his record label, Manson has also been fired from his guest role on the series American Gods.
“Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,” Manson said in his own Instagram statement on the matter.
“My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how—and why—others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth,” he added.
