Marilyn Manson will be featured on Kanye West’s upcoming Donda, another reworked version of which was unveiled in Chicago late Thursday night.
Manson, who earlier this year was dropped by Loma Vista Recordings and others following sexual and emotional abuse allegations from Evan Rachel Wood and more women, was among the artists who joined West on the porch of his recreated childhood home at Soldier Field during the event. While Manson did not perform and instead elected to kind of lean against the structure and sit on the stoop for a good chunk of the night, his voice has since been confirmed to play some sort of role on the album, which had not been formally released at the time of this writing.
“Marilyn Manson’s voice is featured on Donda, and he will continue to conceptually collaborate with Ye on the Donda project,” a spokesperson for Manson told People’s Naledi Ushe.
In a separate People story, “a source” (purported adjacency to West unclear) said of the Manson/DaBaby inclusions, “[Kanye] knows that having controversial figures around will be provocative and will get people to talking. … He knows that people are going to be upset and that there will be backlash. He also knows that people are talking about it today when they wouldn’t have been otherwise.”
Manson has faced multiple allegations of abuse since Westworld star Wood came forward in February. He’s currently facing four lawsuits in connection with his alleged abuse of multiple women.
“The name of my abuse is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,” the Kajillionaire actress said at the time. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail.”
In a statement shared the same day, Manson said “recent claims” about him were “horrible distortions of reality.”
The singer’s appearance at the Donda event on Thursday was criticized by many, with some observers arguing it was merely an example of messageless provocation (hard to argue when you factor in the way he spotlighted DaBaby). The criticism also made its way to Raphael Saadiq, who shared a picture with Manson to Instagram before later updating its caption to let fans know he was removing the post. He also said he “wasn’t aware of the allegations,” later asking fans to ponder who’s “really” the devil.
“It might be you,” he said.
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