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Wolf Alice‘s Ellie Rowsell says she’s had to deal with “a lot of trolls” since sharing her story of an encounter with Marilyn Manson.
Earlier this month, Rowsell accused Manson of filming up her skirt without her consent when they met at a festival. The accusation came after Manson was accused of abuse, grooming and manipulation by actor and ex-partner Evan Rachel Wood and four other women this month (February 1).
Since Wood’s statement, more women have come forward with their stories about Manson, including actor Bianca Allaine, who said the FBI are involved with her case. Manson has denied the claims, saying that all of his “intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners”.
Reflecting on the aftermath of sharing her statement about Manson, Rowsell told the Times that she’d faced “a lot of trolls” who said she’d made her story up “for attention” or insinuated that “it was my fault because I put myself in those situations”.
“So there are a lot of weirdos on my case, but the reason I said anything was because other people weren’t being believed and I felt there is power in collective stories,” Rowsell added. “People were rationalising his behaviour, saying [the women] were in a relationship with him – they chose that. And I’m well aware my story is not half as horrendous as others’, but I literally went to work …”
“I don’t think [Manson] knows the meaning of consent if he goes around upskirting young women.”
Rowsell added that “people were angry at me for bringing this situation to Twitter instead of sorting it out there and then,” adding: “I agree it shouldn’t have to come to calling out someone’s behaviour online years later. Manson wasn’t reprimanded when I told his team and the festival organisers. It was shrugged off as something he did all the time.
“He didn’t offer an apology or let me confiscate the camera, and it couldn’t be brought to the police because it wasn’t a criminal offence at the time.”
The singer added that she believes “some would rather vilify a woman for taking her story public than listen to what she is saying.”
“You don’t want people to resent women for asking for change because there is a fear of [someone being] cancelled. So while calling stuff out might change behaviour in the future, you want people to learn what is wrong and not just because they fear cancellation. That’s why we need re-education and to diversify industries.”
Manson has been dropped by his record label Loma Vista and his longterm manager Tony Ciulla since Wood and the other women’s allegations were first made public. He has also been axed from his TV projects and will no longer appear in American Gods or the Creepshow anthology.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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