“Violence in the home is the root of so many issues, in this country, in the world. It bleeds into almost every area of society and we don’t even realise it,” said Evan Rachel Wood on Monday. “Violence begets violence. It is a cycle. And there are people that can stop the cycle.”
Wood appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, speaking about her upcoming HBO documentary, Rising Phoenix, which follows her decision in Feb. 2021 to come forward with accusations of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse against former partner Marilyn Manson. Wood had testified in Congress in 2018 about her experience of sexual assault, but had not named her abuser.
Manson (real name Brian Warner) has denied Wood’s allegations as “malicious falsehood,” recently filing a defamation lawsuit against her.
Wood and Noah unpacked her decision to make the documentary 16 years later, and the complexity of surviving abuse, trauma, and violence.
“It took 16 years to get here,” she said. “The first thing that I did when I got out was try to get as far away from it as possible. Try to forget it ever happened. You’re running, you’re trying to forget that it ever happened. Of course, it catches up with you and I couldn’t run from it. The trauma started to seep into other areas of my life.”
Wood spoke to Noah about the power of accountability in terms of abuse. “I do believe in accountability and healing and reform,” she said. “We need to leave more space for accountability, otherwise, nobody’s going to be accountable.”
“Sometimes the greatest act of love is stopping that person from hurting themselves or hurting anybody else,” she said.
Phoenix Rising, produced and directed by Amy Berg, is premiering on back-to-back nights, with Part 1 premiering on March 15, and Part 2 debuting on March 16. Both episodes will be available on HBO Max.
