Twiggy Ramirez, who has played bass for Marilyn Manson for 25 years, has split with his band after being accused of rape.
Jessicka Addams, lead singer of the band Jack Off Jill, made the accusations in a post on Facebook earlier this week. She and Ramirez, whose real name is Jeordie White, dated each other for a period in the 1990s, before the relationship soured and the incident in question is alleged to have taken place.
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As well as claims of repeated domestic violence, Addams recalls a time where “he forced me on to the floor with his hand around my neck. I said NO. I said NO … I had been raped by somebody I thought I loved.”
Manson wrote in a statement: “I have decided to part ways with Jeordie White as a member of Marilyn Manson. He will be replaced for the upcoming tour. I wish him well.” He added on Instagram: “This is a sad day.” In a statement immediately following the allegations, he wrote: “I knew nothing about these allegations until very recently and am saddened by Jessicka’s obvious distress.”
Ramirez did not feature on Manson’s new LP Heaven Upside Down but co-wrote a number of his most successful albums, and was still a touring member of his band. He has not commented on the accusations and his management did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment, but he put out a statement on leaving the band, saying: “I wish to spend this time with my family and focus on maintaining my several years of sobriety.”
Meanwhile, Manson’s former guitarist Scott Putesky, who also played in Jack Off Jill and was known on stage as Daisy Berkowitz, has died from colon cancer after first undergoing treatment for it in 2013. Putseky played on Manson’s first two albums, Portrait of an American Family and Smells Like Children, before, in his words, “being slowly muscled out” ahead of the hit Antichrist Superstar LP in 1996.
Manson is currently recovering from injuries sustained after a stage prop fell on him during a live performance in September.