Who do you respect more: a star or your audience?

Dear friends,

Firstly, I have an invitation for you for the 23rd of November, see below. And then, sometimes I can’t help saying my opinion out loud when I see something I don’t think is quite right.

This week it was a festival poster. Copenhell, Denmark’s biggest metal festival, announced that Marilyn Manson will play next summer. I wrote an op-ed about it, because I think it raises one of the most interesting questions right now: where music and politics meet, and what kind of norms and culture we want to build around music.

Fifteen minutes after it was published, the national radio called. I’m going in this afternoon in P1.

So I have a favour to ask. I’d love to bring more perspectives than my own. If you read this now and comment below in the post here before 2 pm CET, I’ll be very grateful, and happy to use your thoughts in the interview. Agreeing or disagreeing, both are welcome.

Who do you respect more, Copenhell can’t lie low and wait for this crisis to pass

Copenhell has booked Marilyn Manson for next summer, and I understand why.

He broke through in the mid-nineties, he’s a big name in the heavy genres, and he sells tickets. It’s a temptation, but one the festival, in my view, should have resisted.

Let me start with the legal dilemma, which is entirely real: Marilyn Manson has not been convicted of sexual abuse. He has denied all allegations, and I don’t believe we should judge anyone who hasn’t been convicted.

I’m reminded of last year, when the Irish rap group Kneecap were due to play Vega in Copenhagen even though they had been charged with terrorism, but not convicted. Søren Gaden from Vega said at the time:

“If we were to cancel a concert because of that, we would be censoring the music. And that would be the real crime.”

I completely agree with Søren, but for me this case isn’t about a court of public opinion. Something else is at stake here.

Not random rumours

The question is rather what signal it sends to the audience, and what culture you normalise, when you book Marilyn Manson. Because even though he hasn’t been convicted, it’s not exactly random rumours weighing on his reputation.

At least 15 women have come forward since 2021 and described violence and sexual abuse. Five of them have filed lawsuits. Prosecutors in Los Angeles investigated for four years and decided in 2025 not to bring charges, but only because the violence was past the statute of limitations under American law. In the same statement, the prosecutor praised the women’s courage.

To my ears, that doesn’t exactly sound like an acquittal of the acts Marilyn Manson is accused of.

If Copenhell wants the next generation on board, this is entirely the wrong signal to send

In addition, two civil cases ended in settlements, one of them a week before trial. The woman said afterwards that she had never thought she would settle, but that for two and a half years she had endured threats and harassment. And when Marilyn Manson himself sued his ex-partner Evan Rachel Wood for defamation, it ended with him dropping the case and paying her legal bill.

That leaves one open case, concerning Marilyn Manson’s former assistant. It is scheduled to go before a jury in 2027, the same year he is scheduled to stand on Refshaleøen and perform for Copenhell’s guests.

“Controversies”? Really?

If Marilyn Manson had been convicted, had served his sentence and had come back, it would be different. Then the justice system would have done its part, and people must be allowed to move on. But that’s not where we are.

We are in a place where nothing has been tested, and where a festival chooses to act as if the question doesn’t exist.

The people at Copenhell write, in a reply to Ekstra Bladet, that they are “aware that a number of controversies are attached to the man behind the band”.

“Controversies” is certainly a polite word for the fact that more than 15 women have put their name and reputation on the line and accused the musician of abusing them. In fact, the “controversies” were serious enough that his own record label ended its deal with him back in 2021.

A petition on Danish soil has gathered close to 1,500 signatures in two days, and it says that the women at Copenhell are getting “a clear message and insinuation that they cannot be safe”.

That is the message the festival should listen to.

Normalising an unhealthy culture

It may be a legal dilemma whether you can exclude a man who hasn’t been convicted, but it is not a dilemma whether your audience should be able to feel safe. And that doesn’t only apply in front of the stage.

The singer Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice has said that Marilyn Manson filmed up her skirt backstage at a festival. There are also women who work at Copenhell.

The festival, which with its 40,000 guests is one of Denmark’s biggest, has a loyal audience that has grown older along with it. If Copenhell wants the next generation on board, those who have grown up with a completely different conversation about boundaries, this is entirely the wrong signal to send.

It tells the guests that a big enough name trumps the audience’s sense of safety. It normalises a culture where abuse has no consequences, as long as you can pay for settlements and are famous enough.

What I miss most of all is solidarity with those who have come forward. In Brighton, Marilyn Manson’s concert was cancelled last year after protests. It can be done, and I actually think it will end with Copenhell following suit.

Right now, at any rate, the festival is facing an urgent and absolutely central question that demands an answer: Who do you respect more? A world star, or your audience?

And a little invitation from me and Sleeve

A lot is happening on Sleeve right now, and I’m very grateful to see artists connecting with their fans without feeling punished by an algorithm for not "doing it the right way". Next week I’ll be in Milan for Linecheck, presenting Sleeve.

And now for the invitation you get as the very first! On Monday 23 November at 8 pm CET, I'm doing an online Sleeve Office Hour. You’re more than welcome. Just leave a note in the comments, and I’ll send you the invite.

Thank you for reading. If you comment on the Copenhell piece after 2 pm, I’ll still read it, just not on air.

Warmly,
Anna