Marilyn Manson Announces Firing of Longtime Guitarist Twiggy Ramirez With An Oddly Neutral Tweet

Last night, Marilyn Manson announced the firing of his good friend, bassist, guitarist, and accused rapist Jeordie White, via Twitter:

Well, then. This all seems very, well, lawyer-ish language. Not even a hint that he’s doing this because of the rape allegations Jack Off Jill and Scarling frontwoman Jessicka Addams wrote about in a lengthy, frank, and heartbreaking Facebook post five days ago. One certainly hopes he’ll have more to say on it later.

Last night’s tweet follows Manson’s bizarrely neutral initial response to the allegations, in which he said, “I knew Jessicka and Jeordie had a romantic relationship many years ago and I considered and still consider Jessicka to be a friend.” Well, gee, the first thing one should do when a bandmate is accused of rape is to point out that they were involved in a romance.

The statement went on: “I knew nothing about these allegations until very recently and am saddened by Jessicka’s obvious distress.” Oh, that’s nice. So not only does Manson make sure to mention romance, but there seems to be something he’s leaving out. A word, perhaps. Something important. Well, shit, I guess we’ll never know.

Though White didn’t join Manson’s band until 1993, after they released their first mainstream album, Portrait of an American Family, anyone who’s read Manson’s autobiography knows that he wanted to White to join the group from the band’s beginnings in 1989. What little time Manson spent writing about original guitarist Daisy Berkowitz was used to put him down, while Manson fawned over White. They’re very close friends.

But, I don’t know, man, if my best friend was accused of rape by a very credible person whom I also considered a friend, maybe I would skip the part about wishing the guy well. Comes off as a bit crass and disrespectful.

In all fairness, it appears that Jessicka Addams seems to be satisfied with Manson’s decision, as you can see from the following tweet: