Dan Cleary: 5 Things About Marilyn Manson’s Former Assistant Who Defended Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood’s allegations of abuse against Marilyn Manson have been supported by the musician’s former assistant. Learn about Dan Cleary here.
Marilyn Manson‘s history of alleged abuse is coming to light in the new documentary Phoenix Rising. Actress Evan Rachel Wood, 43, details the 53-year-old musician’s alleged acts of sexual and physical abuse in the two-part documentary, which premieres March 15 on HBO and is directed by Amy Berg. Evan has accused Marilyn (real name Brian Warner) of abusing her while they were in a relationship from 2007 to 2010, and Marilyn has denied all the allegations.
However, the Westworld star’s allegations have been supported by many people, including Marilyn’s former assistant Dan Cleary. Dan has backed up Evan’s claims before and doubles down on his accusations against Marilyn in the Phoenix Rising documentary. Learn more about Dan below.
1. Dan initially worked as a keyboard tech.
Dan revealed on his Rare Form Radio podcast in February 2021 (after Evan publicly confirmed that Marilyn was her alleged abuse) that he worked as keyboard technician for Marilyn’s touring crew from 2007 to 2008. He spent many years working with the rockstar and was around when Marilyn and Evan were dating. When Dan spoke out against Marilyn in September 2020 via Twitter, he recalled “a kind thing” that Marilyn did which is why he didn’t speak up during the abuse he witnessed on the road. “On tour in 2007 my stepmom died suddenly. The Manson camp flew me home for a week on their dime and paid me anyway I will still never forget that & It sincerely meant a lot to me,” he wrote.
2. He was Marilyn’s assistant for less than 2 years.
In 2014, Dan was hired as Marilyn’s personal assistant. He only held that position until 2015, at which he point he either quit or was fired by the singer. Dan did not speak up about the abuse allegations against Marilyn until September 2020. In his tweets at the time, Dan said the musician is “a mentally & physically abusive drug addict that has the ability to be super kind & emotional.”
3. He’s supported Evan Rachel Wood.
For the past two years, Dan has been vocal about supporting Evan’s allegations of physical and sexual abuse against Marilyn. On his podcast in Feb. 2021, Dan claimed to have witnessed Marilyn’s behavior to Evan while on tour from 2007 to 2008. “Her demeanor changed. Her physical looks changed. She got skinnier. Her whole like aura just became darker,” he explained. Dan also admitted to being slightly complicit in Marilyn’s alleged conduct. “I spoke to his manager about it, but the manager seemed to know all that and didn’t really care a lot,” he said on his podcast. “There’s people saying that I’m complicit because I saw this stuff happening and I didn’t do anything and I’ll accept that. There is some truth in that.”
4. Dan accused Marilyn of abusing his wife Lindsay Usich.
In. Sept 2020, Dan claimed that while working the personal assistant gig, Marilyn was “an abusive violent boyfriend” to Lindsay Usich, whom the musician married in October 2020. “Over the almost 2 year stretch I saw her in tears & him screaming & belittling her more often than I didn’t,” Dan alleged on Twitter. “He would threaten to kill her, cut her up, bury her, embarrass her to the world. Making her cry & fear him made him feel good. He would remind her that she’d be homeless without him and make fun of her learning disabled family member,” he added.
Dan went on to say that “everyone” in Marilyn’s “immediate circle” knew about the abuse towards Lindsay. “But everyone including myself is afraid to say anything because of ‘the code,’ ” Dan said.
5. He appears in ‘Phoenix Rising.’
Dan is featured in HBO’s Phoenix Rising documentary, and once again, he backs up Evan’s claims against Marilyn. Evan specifically mentions how Marilyn allegedly hacked into her emails while they were dating, which Dan co-signs. “When I was his assistant, anyone who hopped on his Wi-Fi, he had your information and was able to clone phones or laptops or something,” Dan says in a clip from the documentary.