California State Senator and Victims’ Rights Advocate Susan Rubio Calls on FBI to Investigate Marilyn Manson
Photos via sensusanrubio/Instagram; Getty Images
A Latina state senator is demanding a federal inquest into Marilyn Manson, the controversial rock singer who has recently been accused of abuse by multiple ex-partners.
In a letter to the FBI, California state Senator Susan Rubio has asked the federal government to investigate Manson because she fears he may “continue abusing unsuspecting victims.”
When the allegations against Manson were first made public, Rubio called on law enforcement to take the claims seriously.
“As a survivor myself, I was horrified to hear of these domestic violence allegations. We need to stand with the victims,” she wrote. “We know they are almost always isolated from loved ones, making it that much more difficult to escape or seek justice.”
She continued: “These allegations of physical, emotional and financial abuse against Marilyn Manson, also known as Brian Hugh Warner, must be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. If law enforcement does not do that, we will not only fail these victims but future possible victims of the alleged perpetrator.”
As background, on Monday, Marilyn Manson was accused of “horrific abuse” by his ex-fiancée, actress Evan Rachel Wood in an Instagram post.
That same day, four other women came out publicly to tell their stories of abuse at the hands of Manson as well. The allegations include claims of rape, physical abuse, violent threats, and psychological torment among other things.
“[Marilyn Manson] started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission,” Wood wrote in her statement. “I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives.”
Manson and Wood were together from 2007 to 2010. They began a relationship while she was 18 and he was — and married to another woman.
In 2018 Evan Rachel Wood testified before she testified before California legislators, giving her own personal account of domestic abuse in support of the Phoenix Act–legislation authored and championed by Sen. Susan Rubio.
The Phoenix Act was legislation meant to grant more rights to victims domestic violence and alter the statute of limitations for perpetrators.
“My experience with domestic violence was this: Toxic mental, physical and sexual abuse which started slow but escalated over time, including threats against my life, severe gaslighting and brainwashing, waking up to the man that claimed to love me raping what he believed to be my unconscious body,” Wood said. At the time, she didn’t name her alleged abuser.
California Senator Susan Rubio also has her own personal story of domestic violence.
Born in Juarez, Mexico, Rubio lived in Texas as an undocumented immigrant until she became an American citizen in 1994. She married fellow lawmaker Roger Hernández in 2013 before filing for divorce in 2016.
After her divorce, Rubio filed a permanent domestic violence restraining order against Hernández, alleging he had been physically abusive to her.
Since her election, she has been an outspoken advocate and champion for the rights of victims of gendered domestic violence. She authored the Phoenix act in 2018, which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019.
