Marilyn Manson Official Statement ” Rep Says It’s “Nobody’s Business” If He Turned To Christianity”
Marilyn Manson popped up alongside Kanye West and Justin Bieber during West’s Sunday Service performance this past weekend.
Manson has been friends with Kanye West and even showed up at a listening party in August, along with rapper DaBaby for Ye’s new album. West’s message seems to be that he was pushing back against “cancel culture.” If you have not heard Manson has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault and is currently facing lawsuits from those women. Manson denies the charges.
After Manson appeared alongside Bieber and West at the livestreamed Sunday Service, Ashley Morgan Smithline — who has sued the singer alleging physical violence and psychological and sexual abuse — tells PEOPLE it was “just like being traumatized” to see the singer alongside West and Bieber during the prayer service.
“It’s heartbreaking. It makes me sick,” she says. “How is this the world we live in?”
Smithline, 37, says that seeing Manson, 52, at the Sunday Service has hurt her and the other alleged victims who have come forward with allegations against Manson. (Actresses Evan Rachel Wood and Esmé Bianco are among the more than 15 accusers.)
“It makes everyone really f—ing sick. This is just like being retraumatized,” she says. “And it’s just showing the point that the world doesn’t really care if you rape and if you beat and hurt all these [women], you can do whatever you want, basically, if you have money and you’re a guy and you’re famous.”
Referring to West, she adds, “This man has to know that he is enabling a rapist. He’s enabling an abuser and not just [of] one girl.”
Manson has previously denied the allegations against him, writing on social media that the claims were “horrible distortions of reality,” adding that his relationships have “always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners.” And when Smithline accused Manson of torture and sexual abuse in an interview with PEOPLE, the spokesperson “strongly den[ied] her claims.”
At the Sunday Service event, Bieber sang “Hurricane” with West. He was also seen alongside West and Manson during a prayer when he said, “Thank you for your forgiveness,” before later adding, “We cast out any demonic activity that would try to steal our peace today and our joy.”
A source tells PEOPLE that Bieber was not informed that the “Beautiful People” singer would be attending Sunday Service.
“Justin didn’t know Manson was going to be there prior to the event,” the source tells PEOPLE. “He wasn’t aware that he was a part of it.”
A rep for West did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Manson tells PEOPLE that Manson was an “integral part” of the Sunday Service. When asked if he had turned to Christianity, the spokesperson said, “That’s nobody’s business.” The Antichrist Superstar singer, who was raised Christian, has been the center of protests by Christian groups in the past, including after the Columbine massacre in the late ’90s.
“Throughout his career, Marilyn Manson has collaborated with innovative and legendary artists across all musical genres, and Ye is no exception,” the spokesperson said. (Manson also joined West at a Donda event in late August. At the time, a spokesperson said the singer would “continue to conceptually collaborate” with West.)
When speaking to PEOPLE, Smithline said she had been upset to see him continue to be in the public eye without any apparent repercussions, even referring to when the singer was spotted having lunch in West Hollywood several weeks ago.
“How’s he having lunch in West Hollywood when we’re sitting here, terrified for our lives, that he is going to kill us?” she says. “We just told all of our truths, we just put ourselves way out there and he’s just f—ing around having drinks, having lunch in West Hollywood.”
