YouTube responds as petition to remove Marilyn Manson's Heart-Shaped Glasses music video with Evan Rachel Wood garners support

American actress Evan Rachel Wood has shared an online petition urging YouTube to remove the video for Marilyn Manson's 2007 song Heart-Shaped Glasses, after claiming in her latest documentary, Phoenix Rising, that she was "essentially r*ped on camera" while the video was shot.

On March 16, Wood shared the online petition, launched by Victoria Ambrose, who calls herself an advocate for victims of domestic violence, on her Instagram Story on March 16.

According to Ambrose, the video should not be allowed on YouTube or circulated anywhere else for that matter as it shows Manson penetrating Wood without her consent. At the time of writing, the Change.org petition has garnered more than 7,000 signatures.

The video for Heart-Shaped Glasses is still available to view on YouTube. However, YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon told The Daily Mail that the platform was "monitoring the situation closely and will take appropriate action if we determine there is a breach of our creator responsibility guidelines."

Malon reportedly pointed out that YouTube's terms of service include a clause that could be used to take down Manson's channel based on his actions outside of the platform, but that he would have to either confess, or be legally charged or convicted of a crime that "harms the YouTube community."

In 2021, Evan Rachel Wood accused Manson of abuse, while several other women have also come forward with their claims. Among them is Game Of Thrones actress Esme Bianco, who is suing Manson for alleged sexual assault, physical abuse, and human trafficking.

Despite the accusations leveled against Manson, he has denied all of them, alleging that his accusers have been "cynically and dishonestly attempting to monetize and exploit the #MeToo movement."

After the accusations, Loma Vista Records dropped Manson, as did his longtime manager Tony Ciulla. Additionally, he was dropped from multiple TV projects, including American Gods and the Creepshow anthology.

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What did Marilyn Manson's representative say about the accusations that Evan Rachel Wood made?

As described in Phoenix Rising, Evan Rachel Wood stated that she was given absinthe and drugs while filming the music video for Heart-Shaped Glasses and that Manson "started penetrating her for real" as part of a "simulated" scene. According to Newsweek, she said,

"It's nothing like I thought it was going to be. We're doing things that were not what was pitched to me. We had discussed a simulated sex scene, but once the cameras were rolling, he started penetrating me for real. I had never agreed to that."

In an interview with media outlet The Independent on January 26, 2022, Manson's attorney Howard King said that of all the accusations that Evan Rachel Wood made about Manson, the claim about Heart-Shaped Glasses, which was shot 15 years ago, "is the most brazen and easiest to disprove, because there were multiple witnesses."

He also said that not only was Evan Rachel Wood fully engaged in the three-day video shoot but was also active during the pre-production and post-production of the music shoot.

He said,

"The simulated sex scene took several hours to shoot with multiple takes using different angles and several long breaks in between camera setups. Brian did not have sex with Evan on that set, and she knows that is the truth."

The documentary Phoenix Rising, directed by Amy Berg, premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is now streaming on HBO Max. In the documentary, she recounts the abuse she allegedly endured from Manson. The film also follows her decision to publicly accuse him in 2021.