Evan Rachel Wood did an intimate performance of the New Radicals 1998 hit “You Get What You Give” over the weekend, and her post about it featured a poignant message about staying strong and focused, as well as a not-so-subtle gesture aimed at Marilyn Manson.
“For my fellow survivors who got slapped in the face this week,” she wrote. “I love you. Don’t give up.”
She began the hushed performance at the Bourbon Room in Los Angeles by telling the audience, “I’ve been saving this, but it seems like an appropriate time.” Reading the lyrics from her phone, Wood, 33, sang the chorus in a melancholy croon, “You’ve got the music in you/ Don’t let go/ You’ve got the music in you/ One dance left/ This world is gonna pull through/ Don’t give up/ You’ve got a reason to live/ Can’t forget/ We only get what we give.”
But it was what Wood did near the end of the song during a line that mentions disgraced shock rocker Manson that drew the most attention. Her voice rising to a bellow, Wood raised her left hand and flipped the bird as she got to the lyric about the singer born Brian Hugh Warner, 52, whom she has accused of sexual and emotional assault. Wood is one of more than a dozen women who have accused Manson of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, including four who have filed lawsuits over those claims. Manson has repeatedly denied the allegations.
In February, Westworld star Wood named Manson as her alleged abuser.”I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent,” she shared via Instagram on Feb 1. Wood and Manson had a relationship when the actress was 18 and Manson was 36, and the pair were briefly engaged in 2010.
Manson denied her charges, responding in a statement on Instagram: “Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how – and why – others are now choosing to misinterpret the past, that is the truth.”
Wood’s performance came just days after Manson appeared alongside Kanye West at his Chicago DONDA listening party, after which Billboard confirmed that the rocker also appears on the long-delayed album from the rapper, which finally arrived on Sunday (Aug. 29). Manson is featured on the song “Jail Pt. 2” and has two co-writing credits on the album.
Afterward West’s event, Wood posted the phrase “Triggered, re-traumatized, and unsafe” on her Instagram Story alongside an article about Manson’s appearance alongside the rapper and another controversial figure, DaBaby. The “Rockstar” rapper is in the midst of the continuing fallout from his homophobic comments at July’s Rolling Loud 2021 event in Miami.
Check out Wood’s performance of “You Get What You Give” below.
