Heavy metal star Marilyn Manson, has had the first UK concert of his One Assassination Under God Tour cancelled after pressure from campaign groups and an MP.
The first leg of the tour was due to kick off at the Brighton Centre on Wednesday, 29 October. Ticketmaster have since informed customers that the event will no longer go ahead as planned and they will be refunded.
An online campaign group, No Stage for Abusers, called on the Brighton Centre and Brighton and Hove city council, which owns the venue, to cancel the performance.
Four women had sued Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, accusing him of rape, sexual assault and bodily harm. However, after a year-long investigation, the case against him was dropped in January.
Prosecutors in California found that the statute of limitations had been exceeded and argued they would not be able to bring charges that prove Warner was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The identities of the women were not revealed, but Game of Thrones actor Esmé Bianco, who sued Warner in a case that has now been settled, stated that she was part of the criminal investigation.
In 2021, Manson’s former fiancee, the Westworld actor Evan Rachel Wood, also named him as her abuser for the first time in an Instagram post. Warner has dismissed the allegations as “falsehoods”.
Last week, Green Party MP Siân Berry expressed her concerns about Warner’s scheduled performance in her constituency in Brighton, writing an open letter to the leader of Brighton and Hove city council, Bella Sankey.
In Berry’s letter, which was co-signed by a host of groups and the University of Sussex students’ union, she made the case for cancelling the concert, saying it went against “the city’s well-renowned values”.
Berry wrote: “Many survivors in Brighton and Hove, and organisations supporting them, will have serious concerns about this booking and its wider impact on other people visiting the city centre, local residents and the wider community.”
She added: “The council has a responsibility to take action where there are risks of discrimination, harassment and victimisation.”
Supporters of Warner point out that Warner has not been found guilty of allegations against him. Others said the decision infringes on freedom of speech.
One person told The Argus: “This is cancel culture, nothing more, and it’ll backfire when artists don’t add a Brighton and Hove date to their tours and stick to London, which incidentally hasn’t banned Marilyn Manson from their city.”
