Council leader calls for Marilyn Manson UK date to be cancelled

A council leader in the UK has called for a Marilyn Manson show to be scrapped following dropped allegations against the artist.

The lawsuit against the metal singer, which saw him accused of rape and domestic violence by four women – ended at the start of the year. Manson repeatedly denied accusations in statements from his lawyer and labelled the claims as “falsehoods”.

Now, the singer is back to playing live shows and touring globally. However, Millie Earl – Council leader in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) – has spoken out about one of his upcoming shows.

In a statement, she said that the upcoming Halloween show in Dorset should be cancelled in a bid to “reinforce the message that violence against women and girls isn’t something that’s acceptable in our community.

The show is a part of Manson’s ‘One Assassination Under God’ tour, and the comments from the Liberal Democrat came in response to a question from a resident.

She also said that the Bournemouth International Centre is owned by the council and operated by BH Live. Due to this, she shared, the lease agreement means that they “don’t have any input into the decisions that are made, the acts that are appearing”.

She added that she has “actually written to BH Live to express my concern” about the show.

“I don’t feel Marilyn Manson reflects the values we have in BCP and we’ve been doing a lot of work around things like the White Ribbon accreditation scheme which helps men and boys change negative, damaging behaviours,” she said (via BBC News). “So I have asked that BH Live reconsider hosting Marilyn Manson later this year.”

The four women who filed the lawsuits against Manson included Game of Thrones actor Esmé Bianco, his former personal assistant Ashley Walters and model Ashley Morgan Smithline, who later recanted her claims. The fourth woman remained anonymous.

In 2021, Westworld actor Evan Rachel Wood accused the ‘Beautiful People’ singer of abusing her during their three-year-long relationship, and Manson also denied the claims.

In January, prosecutors said the claims against Manson had exceeded the statute of limitations, meaning that they were unable “prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt”. The slew of accusations did lead to his record label, manager and booking agent severing ties with him.

Neither Manson nor his team have spoken out about the comments made by Earl, and BH Live has not yet shared whether or not they are considering cancelling the upcoming show.

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