Korn’s Brian Welch hopes Marilyn Manson can “own up” and “get help” following abuse allegations.
He also expressed sympathy for Evan Rachel Wood.
Images: Miikka Skaffari / Toni Anne Barson / Getty
Korn guitarist Brian Welch has addressed the abuse allegations made against Marilyn Manson, and expressed his hope that Manson can “own up” to his behaviour and get help.
His comments follow actress Evan Rachel Wood’s statement alleging that Manson groomed, abused and manipulated her. Several others have since come forward to also allege Manson of abuse, and many musicians have since condemned Manson and his behaviour, or shared their personal experience.
Welch, speaking to NME, said: “I just hope that Manson can, if it’s true, if he can own up to it, and get help. I don’t know but I hear stories that he’s got massive drug problems over the years, I don’t know how he is now, hopefully he’s healthy; but we want him to have a long life. We want him to be here for a long time, we want to get better as humans.”
He addressed the fact that his band Korn and Manson toured together in the past, and also noted that: “I want to be careful what I say because I don’t know what really went on.”
He did note his reaction upon seeing Evan Rachel Wood discuss the alleged abuse to congress, saying “ she had real pain when she talked about it. That is some real trauma that she had.”
“We last saw him in 2019, and Jonathan [Korn frontman Jonathan Davis] and him are friends and whatnot,” he added. “I’ve never been close to him at all, so I haven’t seen some of that, but just hearing [Limp Bizkit guitarist] Wes Borland talk about that, that he saw some crazy things when Evan and Manson were together, that’s pretty crazy. I feel for her, because I see true pain in her voice when she speaks.”
Welch also added that he addressed his own past behaviour in his 2015 book With My Eyes Wide Open, saying “I’m very vocal about how screwed up I was. I was in an abusive relationship and I wrote all about it in my book… Owning up to your stuff and facing your demons and becoming a better person, even Marilyn Manson could do that.”
You can see the full interview with Welch below.
Since the allegations surfaced, Manson has been dropped by his record label and two TV roles.
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