Marilyn Manson: Model Sarah McNeilly alleges ‘absolutely terrifying’ abuse by singer
The model alleges that Manson started ‘threatening’ and ‘verbally berating’ her for hours on end
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Your support makes all the difference.Model Sarah McNeilly has claimed that Marilyn Manson began abusing her and isolating her from her loved ones just weeks after they became romantically involved.
In an investigation conducted by Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles model described the “terrifying” abuse she allegedly faced at the hands of the 52-year-old artist.
The publication spoke to more than 55 people who have known the singer at various points in his life, as part of the nine-month investigation. Manson has been accused of various forms of misconduct this year, including sexual assault, psychological abuse, violence, coercion, and intimidation.
The “shock rocker” has categorically denied the allegations since they first emerged, calling them “horrible distortions of reality”.
In the Rolling Stone report, McNeilly claimed that she met Manson – real name is Brian Warner – at a party in LA. The next day, she apparently woke to multiple messages from Manson asking her to go out with him.
A week later, McNeilly said, she went to Manson’s home to watch a film, where she described him to be “super-charismatic, warm, and inviting”.
“He went the extra mile to try to get you to trust him. He seemed very vulnerable. But it was also learning about me, what made me tick and where he could pull the strings out later,” she said.
However, McNeilly realised something was off shortly after Manson apparently told her that he loved her after a week.
“I stopped and I was like, ‘What the f*** did you just say to me?’” she said. “Like, we’ve been dating a week. He wanted me to start picking out wedding dresses. He wanted to have a baby. I’ve never experienced a relationship like this – because it was f****** fake.”
The model alleged that shortly after this declaration, Manson soon started isolating her from her loved ones, “threatening and verbally berating her for hours on end”. Her friend Brittany Leigh supported the allegations of abuse and isolation to Rolling Stone.
“The physical violence was almost a relief. Like, the mental s*** that he puts you through, that he infects your brain with, that he brainwashes you, you just want it to stop,” McNeilly added.
This isn’t the first time McNeilly has spoken about her allegations against Manson in public.
Earlier this year, the model detailed her experience in an Instagram post. She wrote: “He (Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson ) lured me in with ‘love bombing’. Posing as the perfect boyfriend. Claiming he was just misunderstood.”
“As he was wooing me I would come to find out he was torturing others. Before long I was the one being tortured. I was emotionally abused, terrorised and scarred,” she added. “I was locked in rooms when I was ‘bad’, sometimes forced to listen to him entertaining other women.”
She further claimed: “I witnessed him staging problems or hiding missing objects in order to justify his violent outbursts.”
“I witnessed him recording others unknowingly in order to have blackmail on most anyone who entered ‘the meat locker’ ( as I called his home, it was kept at a chilly 62 degrees always) I witnessed him terrorise and abuse others in my presence.”
Other than McNeilly, Game of Thrones actor Esmé Bianco – who has filed a lawsuit against Manson – previously alleged that the singer chased her with an ax around his apartment and would repeatedly play her sex scene in Game of Thrones to guests in order to humiliate her.
More women – including actor Evan Rachel Wood and Ashley Morgan Smithline – have also accused Manson of sexual violence.
Lawyers for Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, have argued that the star’s accusers are “desperately trying to conflate the imagery and artistry of [his] ‘shock rock’ stage persona, ‘Marilyn Manson,’ with fabricated accounts of abuse”.
The Independent has contacted Manson’s representatives for comment.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, you can call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247, or visit their website here.