Los Angeles County authorities announced Friday they've launched a domestic violence investigation of goth rock icon Marilyn Manson, following allegations made by former girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood.
In a brief statement, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department said its special victims unit would look at his actions in West Hollywood, California.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Special Victims Bureau is investigating allegation(s) of domestic violence involving Mr. Brian Warner also known as “Marilyn Manson,” who works in the music industry," the sheriff department said.
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"The incidents occurred between 2009 and 2011 when Mr. Warner lived in the city of West Hollywood.”
The small but prominent city of West Hollywood, which sits in the shadows of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, contracts its law enforcement to the department.
Three weeks ago, Wood, who has testified before Congress about her experience with domestic and sexual violence, said she was “horrifically” abused by Manson, her ex-partner.
In a post on Instagram, the “Westworld” actor wrote that Manson “started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years.”
“I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail,” Wood wrote.
“I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives,” she added. “I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.”
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Wood, now 33, met Manson, 52, when she was a teenager and he was in his late 30s. They dated intermittently in the late 2000s, and in 2010, they were briefly engaged. Wood married “Billy Elliot” star Jamie Bell in 2012, and they divorced in 2014.
A representative for the musician could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
In an Instagram post following Wood's allegations, Manson said: "Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. 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."
