(CN) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department served a search warrant at rocker Marilyn Manson’s West Hollywood home Monday in connection with a domestic violence and sexual assault investigation by the department’s Special Victims Bureau.
Manson was not home at the time of the raid, the department said. Detectives seized items during the search, including “media storage devices.”
The reported incidents investigators are probing occurred between 2009 and 2011, the statement from Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. Villanueva said the investigation “remains active.”
The sheriff's department's investigation marks only one of an array of thorny issues Manson faces. In September, Manson pleaded not guilty on misdemeanor charges stemming from an altercation at a 2019 concert, when a videographer said Manson approached her and spat and blew snot on her.
Manson also faces a federal lawsuit from model and entertainer Ashley Morgan Smithline, who claims that what began as a consensual relationship with Manson in 2010 became increasingly violent and abusive. In the complaint, Smithline says she awoke to find her ankles and wrists bound and Manson sexually assaulting her.
According to Smithline, Manson put a pillow over her face to prevent her from breathing and cut her body with a knife, causing her to go into shock. She claims the instances of rape and physical violence were compounded by frequent abuse related to her being Jewish, including Manson using antisemitic epithets and forcing her to buy Nazi paraphernalia.
Over a dozen women have accused Manson of misconduct and abusive behavior. Actress Evan Rachel Wood testified about her experience with domestic violence in front of Congress in 2018, naming Manson as her abuser in an Instagram post this past February. Shortly after Wood’s claims against Manson became public, his record label, agent and managers cut ties with him.
Singer Ellie Rowsell claimed in a series of tweets that Manson filmed up her skirt with a GoPro when they were backstage at a music festival.
“There were no repercussions for his behavior, his tour manager simply said ‘he does this kind of thing all the time,’” Rowsell tweeted.
Singer Phoebe Bridgers said on Twitter that she visited Manson’s home as a teenager and that Manson referred to a room as the “rape room.”
“The label knew, management knew, the band knew,” Bridgers said in a tweet deriding Manson's circle for “pretending to be shocked and horrified” by the allegations.
Last week, Manson received multiple Grammy nominations, including an Album of the Year nod, for his appearance on Kanye West’s album “Donda.” The nominations elicited outcry from some and prompted Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. to defend the nomination process.
Manson and his representatives could not be reached for comment, but the singer — born Brian Warner — has previously denied all accusations against him. The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department declined to release any further information.
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