Marilyn Manson disables the comments on the videos for his two new singles, returning after assault allegations 

NME

Following accusations of assault, Marilyn Manson has disabled the comments on the videos for both of his new singles.

The new songs arrive amid Manson being on tour supporting Five Finger Death Punch as part of their US tour, which marks his first proper dates since 2019.

Since then, a raft of sexual abuse allegations were levelled against him in February 2021, including by his ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood, who made accusations of rape, torture, and threats. Separate claims of abuse from more than 12 women have also been made.

Numerous lawsuits have ensued since, with Manson consistently denying all allegations.

It emerged in May that Manson had signed a new record deal with independent label Nuclear Blast, and at the start of the month he released his first single since 2020 in the form of ‘As Sick As The Secrets Within’.

Now, Manson has shared a second new song, ‘Raise The Red Flag’, and has disabled the comments for both releases.

In the video, the singer’s backing band make their first on-camera appearance after debuting on stage with him in Pennsylvania on August 2. They include Reba Meyers of Code Orange on guitar and Piggy D, formerly of Rob Zombie’s band, on bass, as well as returning drummer Gil Sharone and guitarist Tyler Bates (via Loudwire).

In March 2022, Manson brought a defamation case against Wood but the case’s key claims were dismissed last May. However, some parts of the case are still pending and a trial awaits.

In January, he was ordered to pay Wood’s legal fees of roughly $326,000. In addition, it was reported in February that Manson will pay the legal fees of artist Illma Gore, who is named as a second defendant and described as Wood’s “on-again, off-again romantic partner” in his defamation lawsuit.

Gore is reportedly owed over $160,000, bringing Manson’s total to nearly $500,000. The reimbursements were awarded under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which says that defendants unfairly sued for their freedom of speech can have their attorney’s costs paid for by the plaintiff.

Other accusers include Game of Thrones actress and former girlfriend Esme Bianco and ex-girlfriend Ashley Morgan Smithline. The lawsuit filed by Smithline has since been dismissed, while Manson denied Bianco’s claims as “meritless” and settled with her in January 2023.

He was also accused by someone only known as Jane Doe in September 2023 – however, her case was settled a week ahead of going on trial.

Last September, he reached a private settlement with a Jane Doe plaintiff who alleged he raped her in 2011. Elsewhere, last month his former assistant Ashley Walters won a critical appeal that revived her case which was originally dismissed last year. In her suit, she alleges that Manson sexually assaulted her, whipped her, and threw her against a wall during a drug-induced rage.

Last month, a woman who claims Manson subjected her to “horrific” abuse as a minor in the ‘90s spoke publicly for the first time. “No longer a nameless victim, I stand before you as Bianca Allaine Kyne, a survivor. Today, I reclaim my voice, a voice stolen for far too long,” she said in a statement released by her lawyer, Jeff Anderson.

Manson’s Lawyer, Howard King, denied the allegations and said the claims are “vicious lies” that amount to a “shakedown” of his client.

He told Rolling Stone: “Brian Warner does not know this individual and has no recollection of ever having met her 28 years ago. He certainly was never intimate with her. She has been shopping her fabricated tale to tabloids and on podcasts for more than three years. But even the most minimal amount of scrutiny reveals the obvious discrepancies in her ever-shifting stories as well as her extensive collusion with other false accusers.”

NME contacted King for further comment.

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