On Friday, Jessicka Addams of Jack Off Jill posted an explicit statement about her abusive relationship with Marilyn Manson’s bassist Twiggy Ramirez (born Jeordie White) during the 90s. In the statement, posted to Facebook, Addams accused White of rape and detailed an extensive emotionally and physically abusive relationship over years. She said that in 1997 she was warned by her band’s record company that if she revealed her story publicly, there would be a “very good chance” that the band would be “black balled by concert promoters, radio programmers, and other bands and their managers”.
Now, in a short statement to Twitter, Manson has tweeted that he is parting ways with White, without explicitly stating why. “He will be replaced for the upcoming tour” he wrote, adding, “I wish him well”. But this isn’t the first time recently that Addams has brought up her abusive relationship with White; in July, in a post on the Jack Off Jill Facebook page, she said “Manson currently employs my rapist Jeordie White I do no want any association. If I lose fans that's the cost of being honest”, adding, “to all women know YOU are walking into a bad situation when you walk onto that bus or that hotel room. Think first”.
While it’s abhorrent that it’s taken more than 20 years for Addams’ experience with White to have any impact on his career, it’s a positive sign that he is perhaps finally being punished. In the current “post-Weinstein” climate, people are finally starting to listen to women who speak openly about their negative experiences within music and other industries. Let’s just hope the shift is permanent.
