Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SLEAZY SCENES FOLLOWING GIG
THE BBC must investigate Marilyn Manson’s appearances on Top of the Pops, a lawyer for Jimmy Savile’s victims urged last night.
Richard Scorer said the Beeb must ensure no wrongdoing took place during Manson’s four TOTP appearances in the early 2000s.
In one, the singer took to the stage clad in black leather to perform a song called Disposable Teens in front of a “largely female” audience.
Manson reportedly spent hours holed up in a blacked-out trailer at Elstree studios in Hertfordshire, where the show was filmed.
Manson, 52, is accused in the US of abusing more than 10 women but denies all allegations.
Mr Scorer, specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and
Gordon, said: “If institutions have information which might aid any criminal investigation, they need to make that available. Given
Manson appeared a number of times on Top of the Pops, the
BBC should conduct a review to see if any complaints or safeguarding concerns were raised at the time.”
A report in music magazine NME about his 2000 performance said Manson made obscene gestures at host Richard Blackwood.
It also said rumours he would “expose himself on stage” proved to be unfounded.
On Monday, actress Evan Rachel Wood, 33 – previously engaged to Manson – claimed he groomed her. She also alleged Manson, 52, engaged in anti-semitic abuse, writing: “He drew swastikas over my bedside table when he was mad at me.” Several other women shared allegations against Manson – all of which he denied, saying his “intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual”. His team has “categorically denied” other allegations in the past.
Manson has been dropped by his manager, his record label Loma Vista and cut from two TV shows. The BBC would not comment last night.
It should conduct a review to see if any complaints were made
SPECIALIST LAWYER