Marilyn Manson appeared on the UK's Channel 4 for an interview last week, and towards the end of the conversation, he was asked about his ex-fiancée Rose McGowan's recent allegations against Harvey Weinstein.
"I'm not surprised by it," he said. "I didn't really know much about it when I was with her."
He went on to share some troubling opinions about the ongoing movement of outing abusers in the entertainment industry, claiming that he didn't want the onslaught of allegations "to turn the whole world's attention from the artistic element of Hollywood" and risk ruining films (or perhaps music videos starring alleged domestic abusers).
Manson also weighed in with his opinion on the severity of different sexual misconduct allegations, distinguishing between "serious" and "not as serious" allegations.
"When someone starts complaining about something that happened that seems a little bit… not as serious as really sexual assault, I think that's insulting to people that have been sexually assaulted," he said.
He even gave specific examples, adding: "It pisses me off that when someone says, 'Someone gave me an inappropriate gift.' That's not the same as being harmed."
He further defended his position that movies shouldn't be prevented from getting made because of sexual misconduct allegations, then added, "That's not to disrespect the people who are saying these allegations, I just think that if you have something to say you should say something to the police and not the press."
He failed to mention the myriad reasons victims of sexual assault don't go to the police.
Pulling a bit of a Morrissey, Manson went on to side with accused abusers rather than the silence breakers.
"I can't turn on my phone every day without someone being accused of something," he continued. "Maybe it's all men are bad, or all men can't do anything inappropriate. It makes you feel you can't even say… or if I meet her [motions to woman off camera] and if I look at her the wrong way, I'm going to be accused of something wrong."
Manson then took his foot out of his mouth for long enough to finish up by saying that while he supports McGowan specifically for speaking out, he disagrees "with the entire snowball effect that's happened with it" and thinks that movements like #MeToo "could really ruin a lot of people's lives who don't need to be ruined."
Watch the tone-deaf response in the video interview below. The question about Rose McGowan comes at the 31:00 minute mark.
"I'm not surprised by it," he said. "I didn't really know much about it when I was with her."
He went on to share some troubling opinions about the ongoing movement of outing abusers in the entertainment industry, claiming that he didn't want the onslaught of allegations "to turn the whole world's attention from the artistic element of Hollywood" and risk ruining films (or perhaps music videos starring alleged domestic abusers).
Manson also weighed in with his opinion on the severity of different sexual misconduct allegations, distinguishing between "serious" and "not as serious" allegations.
"When someone starts complaining about something that happened that seems a little bit… not as serious as really sexual assault, I think that's insulting to people that have been sexually assaulted," he said.
He even gave specific examples, adding: "It pisses me off that when someone says, 'Someone gave me an inappropriate gift.' That's not the same as being harmed."
He further defended his position that movies shouldn't be prevented from getting made because of sexual misconduct allegations, then added, "That's not to disrespect the people who are saying these allegations, I just think that if you have something to say you should say something to the police and not the press."
He failed to mention the myriad reasons victims of sexual assault don't go to the police.
Pulling a bit of a Morrissey, Manson went on to side with accused abusers rather than the silence breakers.
"I can't turn on my phone every day without someone being accused of something," he continued. "Maybe it's all men are bad, or all men can't do anything inappropriate. It makes you feel you can't even say… or if I meet her [motions to woman off camera] and if I look at her the wrong way, I'm going to be accused of something wrong."
Manson then took his foot out of his mouth for long enough to finish up by saying that while he supports McGowan specifically for speaking out, he disagrees "with the entire snowball effect that's happened with it" and thinks that movements like #MeToo "could really ruin a lot of people's lives who don't need to be ruined."
Watch the tone-deaf response in the video interview below. The question about Rose McGowan comes at the 31:00 minute mark.
