Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins) speaks about his friendship with Marilyn Manson

Billy Corgan, the frontman of The Smashing Pumpkins, has recently elaborated on his decision to support shock rocker Marilyn Manson in recent years. Approximately five years ago, Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, faced significant ostracism from the entertainment industry following serious allegations of sexual assault made by over a dozen women.

Several of these allegations culminated in civil lawsuits initiated by the accusers. Manson has consistently denied these claims; notably, two of the civil lawsuits were resolved through out-of-court settlements, one accusation was retracted, and two cases remain ongoing. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office’s Sex Crimes Division conducted an investigation into the various allegations against Manson but ultimately opted not to file charges, citing challenges related to the statute of limitations and the inability to establish the claims beyond a reasonable doubt. The surge of allegations against Manson was ignited when his former fiancée, Evan Rachel Wood, publicly identified him as her abuser in 2021.

The fallout from these allegations resulted in Manson being dismissed by his management, record label, talent agency, and other affiliations. In a recent episode of ‘Popcast,’ Corgan addressed the scrutiny he faced after attending Manson’s 50th birthday celebration in January 2025, along with other public appearances together. He articulated the nature of his friendship with Manson and the reasons for maintaining their close relationship.

I think that ultimately, as a Christian person, you… how can I put it? You have to stand by your friends. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have an opinion, and that doesn’t mean you’re not critical. In his case — and I’m not here to adjudicate it — but the DA looked at the case for five years. In some cases, I knew personal things behind the scenes that are not in the public sphere. I personally didn’t feel that he was guilty of the things he was being charged with, and ultimately, the fact that the DA didn’t pursue it.

So, basically, the person that I knew, and the way it all kind of went down, even though it was an elongated process, was commensurate with the person that I knew. You know what I mean? It all kind of lined up. But, I wasn’t there. I can’t be there for everything. But I guess it’s one of those things where I don’t, I don’t want the world to tell me who my friends are and who I should associate with. That’s politically, socially, and in Brian’s case, we have a relationship that goes back close to 30 years.

The other thing that people should know, and it gets lost in the gloss here, is Manson’s wife Lindsay is a twin. And her twin is Ashley, and Ashley’s married to James Iha of the Pumpkins. So, Manson’s basically a part of our family — yeah, there’s a deeper set of relationships there. Plus, I knew Manson’s parents.

So, I think anybody in that situation struggles with the accusations, the seriousness of the accusations, but again, I also knew the inside baseball of the case. I knew certain people who are involved, and so you make those evaluations. At the end of the day, I feel I made the right determination, but if things had come out… Like, people would ask me privately, ‘Well, what happens if…’ and I’d say, ‘If he’s guilty, or anybody in that situation is guilty, they should go to jail.’

Corgan further elucidated his perspectives on the concepts of forgiveness and the provision of second chances, framed within a Christian context.

So, I’m not saying I have any moral supremacy here. I’m saying it’s a case-by-case basis. But I don’t like the idea of… this kind of witch mob thing bothers me. I think we all struggle with how to go through life and make those determinations. My father went to jail three separate times. My father stole from me.

My sister-in-law, who’s an incredible person, asked me repeatedly, because obviously she’s married to my brother, asked me, ‘How can you guys forgive your father? How do you forgive your father?’ And I would say, ‘He’s our father.’ ‘Yeah, but he did this, and he did this’, and it’d be like, ‘Trust me it’s not an easy thing.’ So I think in all these cases it requires thoughtful prayer and meditation to to ask what’s the right thing to do.

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