Kanye West has never shied away from attention or overstepped the mark for being controversial, but when the rapper decided to introduce DaBaby and Marilyn Manson to his new album Donda, many of his followers were, rightly, surprised and disgusted.
DaBaby is currently caught in a shitty storm since he made a viral homophobic bastard during his set at Rolling Loud in July, directing a handful of festivals to leave him out of lineups and writing strong reviews from various musicians, including Dua Lipa. , who introduced him to the remix of his song “Levitating”. (He also pulled rapper Tory Lanez on that same show, the man who shot Megan Thee Stallion twice, knowing he would be at the festival).
But it was West’s choice to have alongside rock-shock musician Marilyn Manson (real name Brian Warner) for the debut of the song “Jail pt 2”, to which Warner is credited as a writer and performer, who really felt reckless. The lyrics of the song talk about “violence at night,” how we’re “all liars,” and having a rap sheet, while Warner’s voice screams in the background, “Guess who’s going to jail tonight!”
She is a sickly listener, given that Warner has been publicly accused by at least 15 women of sexual assault, sexual battery, emotional and physical abuse, torture and other disturbing behaviors.
The 52-year-old is also still being investigated by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, as the department confirmed to The Daily Beast that the February case he had opened over alleged domestic abuse is still active and ongoing. Warner has denied all allegations of abuse and assault.
Actress Evan Rachel Wood is one of Warner’s most prominent accusers, who bravely called her ex-boyfriend as her abuser for a long time in February. “He started preparing me when I was a teenager and abused me horribly for years,” Wood wrote in an Instagram post. “I have already lived in fear of reprisals, slander or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call on the many industries that have allowed him, before he ruins more lives. I am on the side of the many victims who will no longer be silent ”.
His statement led his former assistant Ashley Walters, artist Gabriella Accarino and models Sarah McNeilly and Ashley Lindsay Morgan Smithline, to show solidarity with Wood and also share their experiences. Warner is currently facing at least four civil lawsuits from some of these women.
With an ongoing investigation, multiple allegations and lawsuits approaching Warner, who was removed from his Loma Vista record label and was not seen in public for months, it is unattainable why West did his best to align with it. artist with whom he had never worked before, in a song that seems to try to shed light on the so-called “culture of cancellation.”
Over the years, Warner has delved into the hip-hop industry, collaborating with DMX on the 1998 rapper song “The Omen” and, more recently, on the 2020 song A $ AP Ferg. ” Marilyn Manson “. But in light of recent allegations that West is working with the rocker on behalf of making a statement or attempting to be provocative, thus opening his global fan base to Warner, sends a terrible message to victims of domestic violence. .
The collaboration apparently annoyed Wood, who on Saturday night premiered his cover of “You Get What You Give.”
“I’ve been saving this, but it seems like it’s the right time,” he said before lifting his middle finger as the song’s lyrics released Warner. “For my fellow survivors who got slapped in the face this week,” Wood titled in the Instagram post. “I love you. Don’t give up.”
Wood’s sentiment was echoed by attorney Jay D. Ellwanger, who represents Smithline and Smith Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco, who is suing Manson for sexual assault, human trafficking and abuse. He told The Daily Beast in a comment: “It is sad that Marilyn Manson has chosen to exploit these serious allegations of abuse instead of taking responsibility for the pain she has caused.”
Singer Cecilia Della Peruti, better known by her stage name Gothic Tropic, was a close friend of Wood’s while dating Warner and had previously told The Daily Beast how she stood up to the alleged abuse, applauding Wood in February for having presented.
“Kanye relying on the value of the shock to increase album sales is really insecure and embarrassing,” he told The Daily Beast. “I’m not surprised that abusers continue to find support for the music industry, an industry based largely on the work of pedophiles and rapists. No wonder he’s okay offending Marilyn Manson victims … nor am I surprised he’s okay offending gay, weird men. But sexual assault and domestic violence affect everyone and encouraging their followers to beat the victims makes them an even bigger loser. ”
“This behavior puts victims in real danger and perpetuates harmful retaliation for being abused by powerful men, which adds another hurdle to the pile of shit we already have to deal with,” he added.
“This behavior puts victims in real danger and perpetuates harmful retaliation for being abused by powerful men, which adds another hurdle to the pile of shit we already face.”
Manson is currently facing at least three civil lawsuits and had become a police officer in July on a New Hampshire arrest warrant for allegedly spitting a female video at a concert in 2019. In February, the Sheriff’s Department of Los Angeles said his Office of Special Victims had opened an investigation into Manson for alleged domestic abuse. The case is still active and ongoing, according to the department in The Daily Beast.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Office is investigating allegations of domestic violence related to Mr. Brian Warner, also known as ‘Marilyn Manson,’ who works in the music industry,” he said. the department at that time. “The incidents occurred between 2009 and 2011 when Warner was living in the city of West Hollywood.”
The period of time listed by officials coincides with when Warner was dating Wood, who began a relationship with the singer when she was 19 and he at 37 in 2007, before they separated in August 2010.
Wood, 33, has voiced his vocation as a survivor of sexual assault and domestic violence, defending the Phoenix Act, which was signed into California state law in 2019, as well as giving a poignant testimony before a 2018 judicial committee in favor of the Declaration of the Rights of Sexual Assault Survivors.
Although he never named Warner during his speech, he said his assailant made “threats against my life” and described a pattern of “severe enlightenment and brainwashing, waking the man that he claimed to love me by violating what he thought was my unconscious. ” the body, and worst of all, the sick rituals of tying my hands and feet to be mentally and physically tortured until my assailant felt I had ‘demonstrated my love for them’ ”.
Wood’s statements reflect those of the other women who spoke out against Warner, including Game of Thrones the actress Esme Bianco, who sued Warner in April, alleging that he raped her in May 2011 and that he “consumed drugs, force and threats of force to coerce sexual acts” from her, at times what was unconscious. “These acts include Mrs. Bianco’s buttocks, bites, cuts and whipping, buttocks and genitals for Mr. Warner’s sexual satisfaction, all without the plaintiff’s consent,” the lawsuit stated. Among the disturbing claims, Bianco describes an incident in which Warner allegedly electrocuted her and hit her with a whip that he said was used by the Nazis.
Warner responded to Bianco’s lawsuit in late July, claiming it was part of a “coordinated attack” that “cynically and dishonestly sought to monetize and exploit the Jo Too movement.”
In May, Warner was sued by another ex-girlfriend by the name of “Jane Doe,” with whom she began dating in 2011. She also claimed that Warner raped her and would threaten to kill her. Her lawsuit alleged that Warner once “honored” her by playing a home video showing an apparent teenage fan being “denied,” stripped of his shirt, forced to drink urine, threatened with a gun, and possibly whipped with a pistol.
Love Bailey, a visual filmmaker, previously told The Daily Beast how he thought he would die when Warner suddenly threw a gun at his house while he was there for a photo shoot in 2011. Just as Warner was about to pull the trigger, he let out a laugh and said, “I don’t like things,” recalled Love Bailey, who is trans. “There’s a scar in my life from this moment on,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. We need to put it as an example that the men of the industry cannot get away with it and people should not glorify people like that ”.