A new doc gives a voice to Marilyn Manson’s accusers

A new three-part documentary series exploring the abuse accusations levelled at Marilyn Manson (whose legal name is Brian Warner) is coming to Channel 4 tonight.

Marilyn Manson: Unmasked tells “the shocking story of one of rock music’s most polarising figures” and unpacks the “chilling abuse allegations that have engulfed his career”, featuring testimony from Manson’s accusers and people who worked with him for years to provide a comprehensive portrait of the artist.

Manson has long been a controversial figure in the music industry and was routinely accused of promoting Satanism and violence in the 90s; he was even blamed for the Columbine High School massacre. Still, at the time, many fans and members of the press assumed Manson’s depraved behaviour was merely a persona.

But it became impossible to brush off Manson’s actions as “typical rock-star behaviour” when in 2021 Westworld star and Manson’s former partner Evan Rachel Wood accused him of psychologically, physically and sexually abusing her during their three-year relationship. Manson went on to file a defamation lawsuit against her but dropped the case in November 2024 and agreed to pay Wood’s legal fees of almost $327,000 (£260,000).

More than a dozen other women have since come forward with similar accusations against Manson.

Manson has always denied the allegations, claiming that his “intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners”.

“The lines between acceptable hedonism and criminal conduct in music have always been extremely blurry,” Jason Newman, news director for Rolling Stone, says in the documentary, which explores how Manson allegedly took advantage of these blurred lines in order to abuse and assault multiple women over the course of his decades-long career.

Marilyn Manson: Unmasked airs on January 14, 15 and 16 at 10pm on Channel 4.